Custom Search

90% Mortgages - As High As Lenders Are Prepared To Go Since The Credit Crunch

As the term suggests, 90% mortgages, sometimes known as 90% loan to value mortgages, are mortgage loans that cover 90% of the valuation of a home. So if a home is valued at £100,000 a 90% mortgage would be for an amount of £90,000.

90% loan to valuation mortgages may be obtained to either buy a home where you supply a 10% down payment, or to remortgage a home which you already possess.

So why are you not able to simply get a mortgage loan to cover the total valuation of the home? Why have you got to put down a down payment to purchase a home?

Well you will need to think about the importance of 'equity' to both the borrower and also the mortgage lender. The 10% margin, the difference between the valuation of the home and the amount of mortgage loan you've got secured against the home should you take out a 90% mortgage loan, is referred to as your 'equity'. It can be regarded as the 'value' that you have stored up in your home asset. In the event you were to sell your home – this is the quantity of money you would obtain following the sale transaction.

In the event that the valuation of your home falls to an amount less than the total sum of mortgage borrowing you've got against your home – this is known as a 'negative equity situation'. In other words, you will owe an amount more than the valuation of your home and your home is now effectively a 'liability' instead of an 'asset'.

So why is negative equity an issue? Well, a negative equity scenario poses a risk for both the lender and also the mortgage borrower. The lender always holds a legally binding charge over your home after they provide you a mortgage loan. In the event that you fall behind on your mortgage loan repayments, the mortgage lender then has the legal right to take possession of your home and sell it in order to recover the debt. If the home is valued at lower than your debt (mortgage) – then they will not be able to recuperate the entire mortgage debt owed and can suffer a loss. It's 'equity' in the home which safeguards lenders from the risk of mortgage lending.

The adverse consequences for you, the mortgage borrower, include things like being trapped unable to sell your home in the event you wanted to – unless you are able to come up with the extra cash needed to repay your mortgage loan entirely.

Before the credit crunch, 90% mortgages were commonly obtainable. As the housing market was on an upwards curve, the likelihood of a 90% mortgage loan slipping into negative equity appeared unlikely. It was much more probable that the margin of equity would increase instead of decrease. But ever since the credit crunch, and the ensuing economic down turn – the property market has at best stagnated, and in several regions of the united kingdom property values have dropped considerably.

With worries of additional property price drops moving forward, and also the much more limited funds available to mortgage lenders because of the liquidity limitations, 90% LTV mortgages are as high as mortgage lenders are prepared to go. The days are gone when it was feasible to acquire mortgage loans at 95%, 100% or even more than 100% of a properties worth. Mortgage lenders have considerably stiffened the criteria around 90% mortgage loans – which makes them much more tough to acquire. In fact, the amount of 90% Mortgage loans approved by mortgage lenders decreased by 90% from 245,000 in 2006 to merely 28,000 in 2009.

In the long term, I am certain 90% Mortgage loans will come back to greater availability – but this might not occur for quite some time. And until it does – the property market is likely to stay in a spiral of stagnation, with a lesser number of first-time buyers feeding into the system.

By: Richard Best

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Richard Best is a CeMAP qualified mortgage adviser in the UK. Click these links for more information on 90% LTV Mortgages.

© 2005-2011 Article Dashboard