More people are buying homes in UK!

What are the basic needs of any human being? Food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare, profession etc the list can go on. But the most important has always been food, clothing and shelter. Everything else is a way to fulfill these three needs. Among these three needs, housing or shelter is perhaps the most expensive and most difficult to achieve.

Purchasing a home is a tough decision and as the population increases and real estate prices shoot up, it is getting tougher and tougher for families and individuals to purchase their homes. Though there are numerous agencies extending easy home mortgage loans it is difficult to qualify for them and one has to be responsible to handle such a large commitment.

Housing loans or home mortgage has been one of the most popular methods of home purchase across the world. Middle class families are the maximum number of people to opt for a Homeowner Loan through mortgage companies. People usually buy new homes during summer and winter months (November-February) are periods of slump for real estate and allied professionals. Bankers find this period tough because new Homeowner Loan applications are few and far between.

But latest statistics of the Council of Mortgage Lenders show a slightly different trend for 2008. The CML says that the number of new Homeowner Loan applications and disbursements increased in January. This is definitely surprising considering that the housing market is down and real estate is not doing too well world over.

In the US there are thousands of homes lying vacant because there are no buyers and those who bought homes as an investment are unable to rent it out and are going in for foreclosure. Those homeowners who are in financially better off positions are opting for a second-mortgage and refinancing their home so they can get the much required breather.

Homeowner Loan interest rates are being slashed like nobody's business. the Bank of England cut the interest rate to 5.25 percent this month. Other banks are also offering several lending options so investers and home owners don't have to go into foreclosure and can continue paying their dues ontime.

We have to wait and watch how things turn out this year. Hopefully the real estate market will rise and people will start making more money and buying homes. This will definitely make the real estate and banking professionals heave a sigh of relief.