Property market different to 1990s

People looking to buy or invest in property should not think that they are stepping into a repeat of the 1990s, according to one housing expert.

Ed Stansfield, a consultant at Capital Economics, said today that lenders and banks are in much more control of their lending and it isn''t as common for customers to take out 100 per cent mortgages these days as it was in the 1980s.

He said: "These days that is very rare and that gives the lending more protection and power to be lenient.

"We won''t see negative equity as well on the same scale. Prices are only going one way and that is upwards."

For this reason Mr Stansfield also expects to see much more subdued demand for housing for the next year to eighteen months accompanied with much smaller house price rises than we are used to.

He referred to a "cooler property market" although it is unlikely to see a sudden downturn in the economy.


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