A 15 per cent drop would see £60,000 slashed from the value of a £400,000 home

House prices could drop by up to 15% amid fears of more interest rate hikes, experts warn

The housing market has been shaken by rampant inflation and rising interest rates with additional shocks caused by the previous government s economic decisions

‘None of the 2008 factors are evident in today’s market’

On an annual basis house prices are still up 7.2%, albeit down from 9.5% registered in September.

House prices register first monthly decline since July 2021 - Nationwide

Following the Nationwide September House Price Index published this morning, mortgage and property experts have commented. Andrew Montlake, managing director o

Nationwide September HPI - “In the property market, it is officially now business as unusual” - reaction

Panicking lenders determined to hold on to their profits have pulled hundreds of cheap mortgage deals from the market.

Lenders pull hundreds of cheap mortgage deals from market

They also argue on whether the market is now a buyers’ or a sellers’ market

Is a house price crash coming? Brokers weigh in

In light of the news that mortgage lenders are pulling rates, a selection of mortgage brokers share their views with IFA Magazine. Michael O’Brien, managing d

Mortgage deals pulled - views from brokers

Michael started as a mortgage advisor in London in 2002 with Barclays leaving to become a whole of market broker in 2005 with the largest independent Estate Agency chain in the UK.

Home of Mortgages was started in 2013 originally supplying advisors to Estate Agency offices in London and Essex before setting a telephone-based mortgage & protection service for Estate Agents and their clients in 2018.

Experienced Financial Services leader with an interest in Fintech to improve the clients' purchasing experience.


property

financial services

mortgages

residential property

politics

HOM Logo v1 Blue.jpg

LogoColours-17.png

Home of Mortgages Logo 150x60  -Dark blue.png

LogoColours-01.png

LogoColours-18.png

LogoColours-12.png

LogoColours-04.png

LogoColours-02.png

LogoColours-05.png

Michael O'Brien

facebook

instagram

People need advice. Although we live in an information age, with the worlds knowledge at our finger tips, mortgage advice is tailored to your situation right now, therefore advice is important to avoid costly mistakes. Here are 5 things I would want to know before recommending a mortgage. 1) are you planning on moving? Sometimes borrowers enter into a new deal with a lender without checking the early repayment charges associated with repaying the mortgage whilst still in a fixed rate deal which, when selling, could be costly. Some mortgages are portable but again this isn’t often checked when clients switch with their existing lender. 2) would you like to reduce the size of your mortgage or term? Yes, the cost living is effecting a lot of us, but perhaps you have received a bonus or inheritance and would like to reduce your balance to counteract the increase in interest rates, advice is required on how to do this. Sometimes clients switch their product and then try to make an overpayment thus incurring an early repayment charge. 3) is your repaying strategy still correct? If you have taken an interest only mortgage and would now like to start to paying off the balance, or vice versa, advice will need to be provided as your existing lender may not allow you to switch, however by remortgaging to a new lender you may get the mortgage that works for you. It is especially important for older borrowers to receive this advice as retirement approaches. 4) would you like to amend your term? Traditionally mortgage terms were for a period of 25 years but have increased to 30 and 35 over the last ten years.&nbsp; As interest rates have increased, it may be necessary for some borrowers to increase their mortgage term to still make the payments affordable. 5) fixed, tracker, discounted, offset? By automatically choosing a product from your lender you are choosing a product your are familiar with rather than one that best suits your situation. Some lenders will only offer you a fixed rate mortgage, which isn’t always the best option as detailed above. Some adverse credit mortgage lenders aren’t offering you the opportunity to fix in at much higher rates than you may qualify for now.&nbsp; Always seek advice (I would say that wouldn’t I) as it could save you thousands of pounds down the road.<blockquote>Just because it’s easy, doesn’t make it right</blockquote>

5 things to know before you PT

(One for the morning!) After twenty years of campaigning, we’ve done it!&nbsp; The FCA have come to their senses and forced lenders to update their credit scoring process, specifically in one area that has frustrated our industry for many years. Unknown to consumers for many years, lenders have been penalising left handed mortgage borrowers by deducting points when scoring their credit applications. This underwriting criteria is thought to be a hangover from the 90’s when mortgage applications were all hand written.&nbsp; Applications written by left handed borrowers were more inclined to be smudged by the applicant’s hand as the form was completed. In turn underwriters found them harder to read, took longer to assess them and therefore applied a slight penalty when scoring them for credit applications. It is hard to believe this criteria carried over as we moved to online applications but it did, and after twenty years of campaigning, the Mortgage brokers alliance for left handed borrowers have prevailed! From tomorrow, 2nd April, all lenders will be forced to remove the&nbsp; ‘Are you left handed?’ question from mortgage application forms. Around 10% of the UK population are left handed, so as there are 11 million outstandng mortgages in the UK, this change gives just over one million borrowers a reason to smile. 😊<blockquote>It's great to finally not have to ask this question during mortgage questionnaires. It's never felt comfortable and am pleased the FCA have finally seen sense!!</blockquote>

It's not ALL right

Keep Calm &amp; Seek Advice has been our message all of last week and will continue as the situation continues to unfold. Thankfully we have been able to answer many clients' questions and concerns after a surge of calls day and night. Two things to clear up: Firstly, lenders haven't been 'withdrawing' but 're-pricing' their rates unfortunately upwards. In 2008 lenders withdrew from the market, this is not what is happening now, lenders aren't exiting the market, simply changing rates.&nbsp; Secondly, lenders have NOT been withdrawing mortgage offers. If your application is currently going through, you have secured your interest rate. Importantly, if your application is going through, please return paperwork promptly to speed up your transaction and avoid any mortgage offer expiring. Why have lenders increased interest rates? Off the back of Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget announcement last week, the financial markets responded with a lack of confidence in Liz Truss' plan. This sent the value of the Pound down against both the Dollar and Euro. A weak Pound makes goods more expensive for both businesses and us as consumers creating increased pressure on inflation which is already sitting at near 10%. The Bank of England's job is to keep inflation at 2% so they need to respond when inflation increases. Their biggest tool is the power to increase the Bank of England's Interest rates or base rate, which in turn, for some mortgage products, increases the mortgage rate we pay. In addition, SWAP rates, which most banks use to determine their mortgage rates, are at a fourteen-year high. The Government's U-turn whilst helping the Pound recover, will do little for the Bank of England's desire to get inflation under control so I still believe we are looking at getting used to a higher interest rate environment. What does this mean for borrowers? Well depending on your personal situation, this may not affect you at all. Existing Borrowers Should you be in a fixed-rate mortgage now, any market interest rate changes won't be affecting you. It is important to speak with us to find out when your fixed rate is ending. Remember if you have taken further borrowing on your mortgage, you may have 'two parts' to your mortgage each with a fixed rate ending at different times, so please seek advice. We can secure you a new mortgage up to six months prior to the end of your fixed rate, but right now, we are simply encouraging clients to contact us at any point in your mortgage term to ask questions. Planning ahead for when your rate will be expiring is essential so please reach out.&nbsp; Thinking of moving? Not all mortgages are the same. The terms in your mortgage offer could save you thousand of pounds.The majority of mortgages we recommend are 'Portable'. A Porting option allows us to take your existing mortgage over to a new property when you move. If your mortgage is portable, it will say so in your original mortgage offer.&nbsp; For example, if you have a mortgage of £250,000 on a fixed rate of 1.5% until 2025, we can port this mortgage over to your new property so you don't need to make any early repayment charges or importantly, lose this rate. If your move required a new mortgage of £300,000, then £250,000 will be ported over on your existing rate as above with the remaining £50,000 being offered at current interest rates.&nbsp; First-time buyers The mortgage market is still stable and despite reports that lenders have withdrawn from the market, they are simply re-pricing and haven't disappeared.&nbsp; Lenders are 're-pricing' their products which is a common business practice, albeit the speed at which this happened has caused a media frenzy.&nbsp; There is no way of getting away from the fact that interest rates have increased as a result. We are in a new interest rate environment. We are encouraging all first-time buyers to speak with us to find out what the changes mean for you and let us calculate what you can afford. Please don't rely on hear-say, get the facts from the experts. The rental market has seen an increase of 20% plus over the last year so exploring your options of buying and understanding the new cost of borrowing is highly recommended. Time to remortgage? If you are approaching the end of a fixed rate or need to borrow further funds, these interest rate movements will have the most impact on you.&nbsp; Please note: if you are paying your mortgage on a capital and interest basis, a doubling in interest rates DOESN'T equate to a doubling in your monthly payment, a concern many clients had this week. Our advisors are supporting clients with all available options such as temporarily increasing the mortgage term, something that can be shortened at a later date. Offset mortgages are also becoming more popular for clients with unearmarked savings. &nbsp;<blockquote>Not all mortgages are created equal. The terms in your mortgage could save you Thousands of pounds!</blockquote>

What's really going on in the mortgage market?

In a Covidesque way, the mortgage market changed quickly yesterday with several lenders withdrawing products from the mortgage market. However Covidesque, only as in the speed of the events. Our message is clear: Keep Calm &amp; Seek Advice Despite lenders withdrawing from the market, they are simply re-pricing. The mortgage market is NOT disappearing as in 2008 or even as it did with some lenders during early Covid. Banks are keen to lend, albeit at new rates. As brokers, we appreciate the lenders that mentioned a 're-pricing' in their rate pull emails. Those lenders that only suggested a withdrawal, this wasn't helpful to the market and only adds to the anxiety of borrowers playing into the media's hands. It is important to add, some lenders are perfectly happy to re-price and carry on with business as usual, but being one of a few lenders in the market would generate an unmanageable volume of applications, a position they do not want to be in. This encouraged some lenders to follow suit yesterday. Borrowers that are concerned about what to do, simple, don't bury your head in the sand, seek advice about your personal situation and plan ahead.&nbsp; These mortgage product withdrawals are temporary, with some lenders coming back today and others just busy doing the work required, deciding at which price point to come back into the market at. "The important message, to avoid panic amongst buyers, is lenders are 're-pricing' not withdrawing, an activity which happened countless times this year. Lenders are still lending, albeit at higher rates so seek advice, find out your options, and carry on."<blockquote>Interest rates have been at record low levels for many years now, rates are back now where many savers and pensioners need them to be. Borrower's will re-adjust, the housing market will re-price, we will all carry on.</blockquote>

Keep Calm and Seek Advice

Michael started as a mortgage advisor in London in 2002 with Barclays leaving to become a whole of market broker in 2005 with the largest independent Estate Agency chain in the UK. Home of Mortgages was started in 2013 originally supplying advisors to Estate Agency offices in London and Essex before setting a telephone-based mortgage & protection service for Estate Agents and their clients in 2018. Experienced Financial Services leader with an interest in Fintech to improve the clients'…

has been added

Address

Media Pack / Portfolio

Michael O'Brien

Media Coverage