Housing market 'not underpinned' by mortgage availability

The lower number of available mortgage products is unlikely to have a significant impact on house prices, according to a Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) spokesperson.

Bernard Clarke''s comments come after Moneyfacts noted that the last three months saw the number of mortgage products available in the market drop by 40 per cent.

The sub-prime mortgage market was hardest hit, with 72 per cent of bad credit buy-to-let mortgages withdrawn and 54 per cent of similar products in the residential mortgage market retracted.

However, availability of mortgage products is not the main factor that influences house prices, according to Mr Clarke, who said the impact is likely to be "modest".

He explained that demand for owner occupation and lack of supply are the main factors that underpin the property market.

"Those fundamentals will continue to underpin the market to a much greater extent than any shortage of mortgage products to customers," Mr Clarke concluded.

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