Mortgage Information: Mortgage Information - Missouri Mortgage

The review, published by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Building Societies Association, said this had led to it being "substantially" cheaper to rent a property than to buy one, with rents around 64% of mortgage costs on comparable properties.

The groups attributed the rapid growth in the number of people opting to rent a home in part to the lower cost, as well as to the greater choice of rental properties now available. More>>

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has estimated December gross lending at �22.6bn, the lowest monthly figure since May 2005. This is down 25 per cent from �29.9bn in November and 21 per cent from �28.6bn in December 2006.

The CML says that a seasonal fall of 6 per cent might typically be expected between November and December.

This comes as the CML confirmed that gross mortgage lending in 2007 reached a record level at �362bn, up five per cent from �345bn in 2006.

CML director general Michael Coogan says: �The �credit crunch� moved into its fourth month in December and continued to constrain the cost and availability of funds to lenders and, in turn, the cost and number of mortgage products available to borrowers. More>>

Citigroup, which reports earnings Tuesday, may announce up to $15 billion in mortgage-related losses. New Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is also expected to announce large-scale layoffs, and the bank's board could choose to slash its dividend at a meeting Monday. Citi has also been reported to be seeking a fresh injection of capital from overseas. Last November, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority purchased ...