How the Media is Hurting the UK Mortgage Market By Michael Sterios At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

As the majority of people are aware, the entire world began to feel a financial crisis in the summer of 2008. While some people claim to have predicted it to happen, and those of us working within the mortgage industry knew eventually the bottom would fall out, I do not think the world was ready for the rapid decline that happened.

To make matters worse, the press and the media continue to harp on the Credit Crunch. The media continues to print gloom and doom stories that do nothing more than paint the bleakest picture imaginable, no matter if they are factually true or not. The worst part of the situation is that consumer confidence is based around what is read in the newspapers and what is seen on TV. The media is one of the only ways that people not directly involved in the credit crisis gets information on the state of the economy. Misleading information can be the route of serious consumer doubt, which only hurts the economy more.

It is a proven fact that banks are not lending money to individuals for mortgages at the level they were a year ago. In addition to a lack of lending, there are also fewer products available in the consumer mortgage market. The positive news for the short term is that those people who have a variable rate mortgage have seen their mortgage bill drop, as the Bank of England has currently set the rate at an all time low of 0.5%. While this is bad news for those hoping to earn interest from savings, it is positive news for those with a variable rate mortgage.

The media continues to report on the declining housing market by claiming that the values of houses are down over 25% in some parts of the country. What they media do not show is the amount that people are willing to pay for a house, if they had the financing available to them. This is a chicken and egg scenario, unfortunately. Until the banks start lending money to people who are looking to purchase a house, housing prices will remain stagnant or drop because there is a very limited supply of people available to buy them.

The media and newspapers have the ability to help the UK out of the credit crunch, out of the financial misery the world is currently in. Unfortunately, the good stories do not sell as many newspapers as the expenses scandals and the “fat cat banker” bonus announcements. It is important to understand the full truth of the situation. If you ignore the reasons that the UK is in the mess, it will certainly end up here again, but the media should be willing to promote some of the positives, some of the green shoots that are being seen.

It is going to take more than a few happy newspaper articles to raise consumer confidence and to start to turn this mess around. However, the media understands the extensive role they play in the information they give to the public and they should be critiqued more heavily and punished if they continue to print false and misleading information. The UK will survive this recession, but it would be much easier if everyone would begin working together for a better tomorrow.

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