Mortgage lenders took 10,200 properties into possession in the fourth quarter of 2009 - 13% lower than in the third quarter, and 2% down on the fourth quarter of 2008, bringing the total number of possessions to 46,000, figures released by the the Council of Mortgage Lenders reveal.

This was lower than the initial estimate of 75,000 forecast at the start of 2009, but still 15% higher than the 40,000 in 2008.

UK Housing Market Latest News – House Repossessions

The Council of Mortgage Lenders argue that mortgage arrears and repossessions did not rise as much as first anticipated in 2009 because interest rates remain low, as well as the fact that lenders, the government and the advice sector have worked hard to help borrowers to address financial difficulties when they occur.

In terms of payment difficulties, 188,300 mortgages ended the year with arrears equivalent to at least 2.5% of the outstanding mortgage balance, 3% higher than at the end of 2008.

Although the longest recession for a generation and the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s, the fall- out from the downturn in the housing market in terms of repossessions is relatively modest compared with that of the early 1990s.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) believes that the number of repossessions in 2010 will be broadly in line with that seen over the past twelve months (46,000). 

“Significantly, we continue to believe interest rates will remain on hold for much of this year, helping to keep down mortgage costs and there are some encouraging signs that the jobs market appears to be stabilising with employment actually rising in the latest figures,” said Simon Rubinsohn, Rics chief economist.

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