Commenting, Simon Rubinsohn RICS chief economist, said: "Data released from both the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Mortgage Lenders provides further evidence that the fall out from the downturn in the housing market in terms of repossessions is proving relatively modest compared with the experience of the early 1990s. This in part reflects the Mortgage Pre Action Protocol that came into effect in November 2008. It is, however, also a direct result of the low level of interest rates which has kept mortgage funding costs at historically low levels and thus limited the pain on homeowners during the recession. Significantly, although unemployment has risen sharply during the downturn, the increase has been much more modest than was expected and considerably lower than in the previous recession.
"Looking forward, we suspect that the number of repossessions in 2010 will be broadly in line with that seen over the past twelve months (46,000). Significantly, we continue to believe interest rates will remain on hold for much of this year, helping to keep down mortgage costs and there are some encouraging signs that the jobs market appears to be stabilising with employment actually rising in the latest figures."
