Mortgage market 'is not all that bad'

The situation in the mortgage market is not as bad as people are making it out to be, according to a mortgage expert.

Barney McCarthy, editor of online magazine Your Mortgage, said: "Over the last couple of years it has almost been too good to be true and now it is returning to something more approaching normality."

He added that although house prices are now much lower than before, lenders will be more careful well into next year, continuing to be reticent to lend and asking for much larger deposits than borrowers are used to.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, Mr McCarthy assured.

Although the days of free and easy money of a few years ago have long gone, it is not a bad thing because customers will no longer find themselves in a situation where they are struggling to meet payments.

Figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that the monthly total of lending in October this year was 44 per cent lower than in the same period of 2007.

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