Credit crunch affects the start of the house hunting period

The housing and mortgage markets in the UK have been badly affected by a number of factors over recent months. Since the credit crunch made its way across the Atlantic last summer there has been turmoil in the financial markets.

This has affected both lenders and consumers, and has had a damaging effect on the housing market.

Officials have stated that the traditional Easter house hunting season has got off to a very slow start this year, with many consumers either wishing to hold back on purchasing a property due to predictions that house prices are set to fall over the next couple of years, and many others unable to buy because they cannot get the finance.

A number of experts have predicted that house prices are set to fall, and some potential buyers have decided to hold off making a purchase in order to see what happens with house prices so that they can get a more affordable deal.

Many are also holding off because they do not want to invest a lot of money in a property only to find that it very quickly loses value.

Another factor that has affected the house hunting season is that lenders have really tightened up on their lending criteria over recent weeks, and this has resulted in many people being unable to get the finance that they need in order to purchase a property, which has resulted in many people not bothering to look around for suitable property because they cannot get the finance that they need anyway.