Mortgage availability in the UK has been tightened as a direct consequence of the eurozone crisis, new research has found.
According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors European Housing Review 2012, this movement was particularly apparent in the final quarter of last year.
It was demonstrated that this came after a number of years in which much of Europe did not endure the same scale of mortgage shortages as that seen in the UK.
Professor Michael Ball of the University of Reading – which has a history stretching back to the 1860s – who authored the report, noted the last four years have seen real house prices in the nation tumble by around one-third.
The industry figure explained this came as a result of general price inflation and a weak property market, adding: “This has been one of the largest declines in Europe and will help to underpin housing market recovery once economic growth picks up again.”
As part of the paper, it was shown that overall prices in the UK dipped one per cent last year, which was similar to that seen in numerous nations across the continent, although France, Germany, Switzerland and Norway recorded rises of five per cent or more.
