|
... In the UK most fixed mortgage rates are fixed for a period of 1 - 10 years, unlike in the USA where it is normal for the rate to be fixed for the entire mortgage term. ... In the past 40 years, there have been two major booms in the UKs owner-occupied housing market: in the early 1970s and in the late 1980s (the Lawson Boom). There were also smaller booms in the 1960s and, more briefly, in the late 1970s, while the early 1990s saw a bust on an extraordinary scale, at least for the UK.
It is now recognized that the increases in housing wealth which took place in the 1980s contributed significantly to the consumer boom of the 1980s. ... The supply of houses grew more slowly, with the construction of housing falling to a small fraction of its level in the 1970s. ... Under these conditions, not even the major falls in nominal interest rates that took place in the early 1990s, while real interest rates remained high, were sufficient to revive UK house prices. ... However, the economic adviser to Deloitte & Touche, Roger Bootle, has pointed to tax changes that he says have "acted against the speculative property purchases that tend to fuel housing booms".
Approximate Word count = 1562
Approximate Pages = 6.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
