The
mortgage market could cool early next year, an expert has predicted.
Milan Khatri, chief economist at the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors, believes that if
interest rates rise before the end of 2006,
mortgage lending could slow in the new year.
Earlier this month, Mr Khatri claimed that a rise in the
interest rate is "firmly on the cards" for November, after the monetary policy committee opted not to change it in October.
"Strong
mortgage lending figures for September demonstrate the resilience of the
housing market to the quarter point interest rate rise in August, but we expect a cooling early next year as interest
rates are likely to nudge up once more in November," the expert remarked.
However, Mr Khatri added that increases in the number of jobs available in the
UK means that the housing market will remain robust, potentially leading to
first-time buyers experiencing further affordability problems.
The expert was commenting in the wake of new figures from the Council of
Mortgage Lenders, revealing that gross mortgage lending in September was seven per cent higher than that seen in 2005.
