The End of the Credit Crunch?

September 10, 2008 by Brendan

News

Struggling US mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are to be helped out by the US government in much the same way as the UK government helped out mortgage lender Northern Rock.

The two US mortgage lenders are deemed responsible for the start of the credit crunch both in America and in the UK. Between them, they are responsible for almost half the outstanding mortgages in the US. They, similar to many mortgage lenders, lent money to borrowers who have since struggled to meet their repayments and as such the banks have consequently struggled as a rumoured 9 per cent of borrowers in the US have fallen behind in their repayments.

When the US government announced that it would bail out the two banks, global shares rallied in response as the whole world seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. This is the largest bailout in US history.

So what does this mean for the UK mortgage market? Analysts believe that this signals the beginning of the end to the credit crunch, although we may still feel the effects into 2010, and they now expect the housing market to slowly begin to recover.

Those considering CeMAP training will also be happy to hear this news, as it means by the time they complete their CeMAP exams and their mortgage advisor training, there should be plenty of people looking for new mortgages and hopefully the high deposit demands may reduce.