Thomas Reeh, chief executive officer at blackandwhite.co.uk, argued brokers were still feeling strong regulatory effects and the consensus of the industry was that business levels were down and industry conditions tough.
He said: “It’s tough going for brokers; levels have dropped for us in August, and September has been relatively quiet thus far. Consumer confidence seems to have been hit as all news seems to be bad news at the moment with hurricanes and oil prices dominating which has been reflected in business volumes.”
Chris Belcher, mortgage adviser at A2B Mtg Co Ltd, agreed: “It has been very quiet this month and you can’t help thinking that consumer confidence is at a low ebb.”
However, Tony Jones, managing director of Pink Home Loans, argued that optimism was returning to the industry. He said: “August has been our best month of the year and I believe there has been too much pessimism. Estate agents are reporting an increasingly active buyer market and with another possible interest rate cut on the horizon things are looking positive.”
In last week’s Mortgage Introducer Christopher May, director of the Mortgage Times Group, reported ‘record levels of business’.
Linda Will, managing director of Accord Mortgages, said: “The market at the moment is so unpredictable. We are seeing large peaks and troughs with seemingly little rhyme or reason to explain them. The overall market has been a bit quieter than expected but there seems to be big winners out there which will result in some big losers.”
According to Milan Khatri, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the economy has continued to show moderate growth over the Summer with consumer spending staying flat and likely to remain restrained as household incomes are squeezed by rising oil prices.
