Thursday, Mar 27, 2008
Has Nationwide cooked it's goose ?
Times: Nationwide shuts door on mortgage hunters
Good news for those with resets coming up ...
"Nationwide, the UK's largest mortgage lender after Halifax, said today it wanted to turn away business to take greater control over the amount it lends"
Posted by doomwatch @ 01:48 PM (2865 views) Add Comment
46 Comments
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1. Fools said...
'Good news for those with resets coming up', - how pathetic you are doom.
2. renting2 said...
What's next? Lenders reducing broker's procuration fees so as to dissuade business from that quarter?
3. crash bandicoot said...
"A spokeswoman from Nationwide said: "It's really about ... adjusting rates so we are not overly competitive."
Or perhaps we would like to start to rid oureslves of some of the rubbish loans that we took on. Remember there is no subprime in the UK..........................
4. mark said...
I wonder how much Nationwide are really stuffed??? Could this bank be the next Northern Rock??
5. cornishman said...
I've been trying to log on to my Nationwide internet account most of today and their site has been down each time. A bit like Northern Rock all over again?
Do I have any money or just a load of binary digits in a non-functioning computer somewhere?
6. cornishman said...
I'm getting worried now...
Anyone else having problems with Nationwide?
7. mark said...
post a discussion on yahoo.co.uk finance site you might find people
8. mark said...
Cornish look at this
http://uk.messages.finance.yahoo.com/Your_Money/threadview?m=te&bn=UKF-SavingsInvestments&tid=3476&mid=3476&tof=1&frt=2#3476
9. Wanderinman said...
Here is Nationwide's press release for this:
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/mediacentre/PressRelease_this.asp?ID=1177
10. Motty said...
I also had trouble loggin on to Nationwide but managed to at about 2.15.
11. Cheekie Charlie said...
Big,big headline news!! Nothing on the BBC about this one.
12. Letthemfall said...
Are we going to see foaming-at-the-mouth demands from the VIs calling on the Bank to instruct Nationwide to lower its rates to support the demand for mortgages due to the critical housing shortage, blah, blah, yawn....
13. mark wadsworth said...
RUNAWAY! RUNAWAY! THE NATIONWIDE IS GOING DOWN!
14. ontheotherhand said...
Nationwide and Halifax are making price collusion signals so that they can put prices up and the OFT should stamp it out. If Halifax puts its prices up and publicly says, "Halifax wants one in five mortgages, but no more than this. We want to make sure we get our share, but no more than that." then Nationwide can apply a simple spreadsheet to work out how much it can raise prices to ensure Halifax keeps that one in five share. They can continue to raise prices knowing there is a tacit agreement not to undercut eachother to go for market share. This is only possible now that Northern Rock is out of the game.
15. Notaneconomicsguru said...
I have a 3 year tracker Nationwide deal that will finish on 31st Aug. I have 7 years left on my mortgage. Never missed a payment. No other debts. I have a low income multiple - less than 2 times gross. I have approx £200k equity. Even now I still get credit card companies approaching and offereing me 0%. I called Nationwide a week ago to see if I could secure a new deal now as the smart people say I should be able to get a deal that will hold until end of August. I'm anxious about the credit crisis and want to get the best deal now. Nationwide won't even talk to me until 3 months before end of current deal. Frustrated, I went through www.fool.co.uk and have secured a very attractive fix for 3 years with a competitor - they'll hold it until my current deal ends. If Nationwide don't want my business they don't want anybody.
16. uncle tom said...
Tried several Nationwide addresses without joy - I suspect they have no more than a major system glitch, as I doubt they would crash their entire site if they thought they were getting into difficulty - more likely they woud freeze the online banking (or even just the payment side of it..!) and post an apology message saying they were having technical problems...
... while going cap in hand to the BOE!
17. waitingfor hpc said...
GOOD!!! RAISE THOSE MORTAGES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
18. cornishman said...
mark - thanks. I posted something there, but no response. I don't know much about yahoo though.
I've just tried logging on to Nationwide again and got a log on screen, but then no further...
19. voiceofreason said...
Maybe Nationwide are just more sensible than the other lenders ?
It is great news that cheap finance is harder to get. It means my REAL pounds in my REAL paypacket are worth more, because when I go to buy a property I can use CASH which now has less competition from DEBT from these dastardly lenders.
20. layers said...
NW are stating on the website: "We are experiencing problems with this site - it is running very slowly at present - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause."
I very much doubt NW are in trouble as they are regarded as one of the most prudent mortgage lenders, so maybe this is just a coincidence....
21. holding out said...
They are reporting the error:
http://nationwide.co.uk/contact_us/service_availability/service_availability.htm
I was under the impression that NW was one of the few well funded institutions.
22. geed said...
Cornishman...logged straight on just 3 minutes ago.
23. uncle tom said...
NW have always given the impression of being one of the saner players, but have tended to lend to lower earners than the Halifax, which could cause some issues.
I read this move as a prudent step away from the big bad world of borrowing short to lend long - I would not be surprised if the entire industry follows suit.
Will mortgage rates rise? - Sure they will. I suspect we will see rates for sound borrowers settling at about 4% above RPI
24. mark said...
then again we were all under the impression northern rock was ok too....
25. uncle tom said...
"then again we were all under the impression northern rock was ok too...."
Err.. were we?
You didn't have to be a financial wizard to realise they were playing with fire!
26. holding out said...
The next casualty (exculding t eh obvious sub prime lenders) will not be NW (still a mutual). But one of the banks which converted from a BS and lent too much to too many for too little. We are talking A&L and B&B.
27. mark said...
uncle, yes most people never thought the crock would sink..... it just goes to show what they dont tell us...
28. layers said...
@Mark - there's no comparison between NR & NW in terms of risk appetite, and i therefore, believe that NW aren't in trouble. To qualify for a mortgage with NW you had to have impecible CR record, and at least 10% LTV, and I don't believe they were offering high multiples of salary either. So on the face of it, they're a prudent lender.
I wonder though, if Portman Building Soc had any toxicity in its mortgage book, which NW acquired in late 2006 - anyone with any insight on this?
29. cornishman said...
Nationwide internet site seems OK, for now...
I wonder if thousands of people have been withdrawing cash and the site was overwhelmed?
30. mark said...
i have been offered 10 times my wage last year through a broker!! for NW....... anyone offer an explanation! All banks have been lending too much one way or another, why else would they be in this situation it is not just usa but all over western world....
all banks took risks...
NW, AL, BB etc they are all skint why else would they be outpricing themselves......... there has to be another run soon........... maybe abbey after all it is spanish and they are taking some heavy hits over there from subrpime, you can never tell where banks have lent, where they have taken risks at higher levels and how they have invested....
31. doomwatch said...
Looks like a cyber run to me.
Will the masses be queuing on the street tomorrow ?
32. uncle tom said...
"I wonder though, if Portman Building Soc had any toxicity in its mortgage book"
Good question - they were a little too keen to get business, so their could well be some dirt there, Indeed, it might be the Portman legacy that NW are trying to get rid of now.
33. jonb said...
Nationwide itself may be fine in terms of the mortgages it gives out, but remember that they own UCB Home Loans - a provider of self cert and sub-prime loans, and The Mortage Works, another provider of self cert, sub prime and buy to let mortgages.
34. Fed Up said...
So have I been foolish in moving my current account from Alliance & Leicester to Nationwide? I thought that Nationwide, being a mutual, would be a lower risk.
35. Ntone606 said...
I highly doubt Nationwide are in trouble. They have the least amount of exposure to capital markets of any major UK mortgage lender, and around 76% of their mortgage lending is from actual deposits (Northern Rock was only about 24% if I recall correctly).
What this suggests to me is this: Nationwide know that there's going to be a HUGE fall in UK house prices, and so are reducing their exposure to the market via strinking their mortgage book.
Very sensible.
36. confused76 said...
AHH HAHHAH HAHAHAH AA
AHH HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH
37. yorkshireman said...
Thanks C76. You really cheered me up after a particularly trying day.
38. Rent_to_ftb said...
So if the nationwide is closed for new business does that mean a net downwards pressure on prices as there is less credit to borrowers?
39. p. doff said...
And Nationwide have Countrywide Surveyors 'helping' with their mortgage valuations. Nudge nudge, wink wink. say no more.
40. p. doff said...
Actually, there is not necessarily anything unusual here. Banks and building societies have always used interest rates to control the flow of business. They intentionally make themselves less competetive when they have reached their lending target.
Now, if they all do it at exactly the same time, that would have serious consequences.
41. harold said...
"A spokeswoman from Nationwide said: "It's really about ... adjusting rates so we are not overly competitive."
They don't want new buisness because they know just how bad it's going to get in the UK. FTB, if there are any silly enough to be try to buy at the moment and who are being turned away, probable don't know what a narrow escape they hare having.
42. titaniccaptain said...
Dont worry everyone its probably the result of a rogue trader again spreding faulse rumours about the condition of the bank...............Not
43. Titaniccaptain said...
oops I cant spelllll
44. Jonathan said...
A comment on the Times site to this article;
"I bought my house for £580,000 nearly two years ago. I was fortunate and had a large deposit of £300,000. The remaining £280,000 was taken as an interest only mortgage.
I have been told my house is now worth £660,000.
When my two year deal ends I will struggle to make the payments at the higher rate of interest. I may have to sell and move to a cheaper house. "
Now worth £660,000? Not for long! This person will be like loads of others and will attempt to unload on the promise of gain and will ultimately be forced to sell for considerably less than expected. A loss in real terms is a whisker away.
45. Btl Rules said...
keep dreaming losers
46. greytornado said...
I really wouldn't be worried about Nationwide, this would be into the realms of an 'End of the World' situation if they collapsed - they are the largest remaining Building Society. Originally No1 was Halifax and No2 was Abbey National, Nationwide was 3rd. The first 2 de-mutualised some years ago. This therefore put Nationwide in the number one slot. Interestingly, there was a big run on the Nationwide back in the late 1960's. caused by complete nonsense. In those days, the Nationwide was called the 'Co-operative Permanent Building Society and really had no connection at all with the Co-operative movement by then. The local Co-op in a steel works town went bust and the 2 got associated for no logical reason. This provoked a massive cash run on the CPBS who changed the name of the business to 'Nationwide' more or less overnight, which resolved the problem. I remember it well - I worked for them at the time. Although Nationwide are still a Building Society, the legislation has much changed over the years and Building Societies aren't now restricted by just lending out the money they get from savers. They have been able to diversify in many areas and can now for example borrow money on the wholesale markets.