Wednesday, Dec 24, 2008

The 2008 Property Industry Lamest Excuse Award goes to ...

Reuters: Mortgage approvals slump 61 percent

BBA statistics director David Dooks blamed part of the drop on banks and prospective home-buyers pausing to take stock after the Bank slashed interest rates by 1.5 percentage points in November.

Posted by paul @ 09:01 AM (413 views) Add Comment

4 Comments

1. Troy said...

has anyone mentioned the day and date is missing from the top left of page on this new layout?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 09:29AM Report Comment
 

2. mark wadsworth said...

Paul, exactly. The rull quote (also in yesterday's reports) was:

"The 1.5 percentage point November reduction ... caused lenders to re-assess product ranges and borrowers to re-consider future borrowing costs, so consequently there was another drop in market activity," he said.

Dude, WTF? If there is any logic to this, it means that potential FTBs are holding out for more interest rate cuts (and not house price falls). But as we well know
a) Interest rates in themselves don't have that much effect on prices.
b) To the extent that they do, lower interest rates tend to push up prices, so whether a FTB pays a lower rate on a larger mortgage or a higher rate on a smaller mortgage is neither here nor there.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 10:07AM Report Comment
 

3. alan said...

This must be the most inventive reason for the drop that I've seen so far!

When sentences begin "David Dooks blamed.." you know the housing bubble is deflating fast!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 12:48PM Report Comment
 

4. 51ck-6-51x said...

I blame hate - it's like L. Ron Hubbard said...

"Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe."

Good 'ol Scientology ;p

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 02:39PM Report Comment
 

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