Mortgage debt now tops £1 trillion

[brian]

The Bank of England has reported that mortgage debt now tops £1 trillion, about a buying spree in May added nearly £10 billion to mortgage debt figures:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5128220.stm

Mortgage debt has gone through the £1 trillion level, according to figures from the Bank of England.

An extra £9.3bn was borrowed to buy homes in May, increasing outstanding mortgage debt to £1.007 trillion.

The value of unmortgaged property is much higher at about £3.6 trillion.
People have a further £192bn outstanding on credit cards and other loans, so total personal debt now amounts to £1.199 trillion.

It was in 2004 that all personal debt first went through the £1 trillion level.

But the continued buoyancy of the property market and the steady rise in house prices has driven up the amount of debt due to mortgages alone.

According to the latest housing survey from the Nationwide building society, the average house now costs nearly £166,000 with mortgage repayments absorbing 42% of average take home pay.

[homewatch]

It is not a surprising news. Having a mortgages is heavily advertised as the easiest way to acquire property for those who can't afford to pay in immediately. This is the result of good marketing. I am not sure though if it is good for the economy.