The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced for the second time in 2009 that it is cutting its forecast for the number of repossessed homes that we’re likely to see this year. The new figure is down to just 48,000 from an original forecast of 75,000.
Following all the doom and gloom we have seen in the media about house repossessions this year, this is welcome news. A figure of 48,000, if that proves to be correct, is just 8,000 more than last year.
The CML believes the fall in its forecast is largely due to a mix of government measures, the consistently low Bank of England base rate and ‘lender forbearance’.
The CML’s director general, Michael Coogan, commented:
“We are glad to have been wrong on our previous forecast for mortgage repossessions this year. Although the economy is not out of the woods yet, we no longer expect a dramatic rise in properties being taken into possession, unless interest rates rise from the low levels that most commentators now expect to persist for some time.”
The level of and number of mortgages in arrears has also fallen in the third quarter of this year according to the CML despite rising unemployment and the ongoing recession, making the UK property market look much better than previously anticipated for both this year and 2010.
