Five Reasons Why Equity Release Is Growing In Popularity

The month of January was an encouraging one for the equity release market, concluding with the positive statistics pertaining to the number of equity release schemes released in the final quarter of 2009. We have identified five possible reasons why confidence is returning to the equity release market.

1.) Like the previous six months house price rises ushered in the New Year. The Halifax and Nationwide both reported rises taking the average price of a UK house to £169,042. It also marked the first time that the average price of UK houses was higher than the same time the previous year. The higher value of houses will mean that customers considering an equity release scheme can benefit from a greater percentage.

2.) Following a YouGov report in early January, it emerged that up to one million homes could be relying on credit cards to pay the mortgage. This led to the charity, Shelter, condemning the news and suggest that alternatives like an equity release scheme might be better.

3.) Reduced interest rate lifetime mortgages also caused a surge in interest in January. The first low interest rate lifetime mortgage was offered by Aviva at the start of January. The overall cost for comparison is 7.3% APR.

This was followed by Just Retirement’s equally competitive low interest rate lifetime mortgage in mid January. The overall cost for comparison is 6.8% APR.

4.) Towards the end of January, TrigoldCrystal and Age Partnership announced that the independent equity release specialists would be joining Trigold’s equity release platform. Age Partnership will offer advice to customers referred by Trigold’s brokers meaning that a greater number of people could now benefit from professional and impartial guidance.

5.) The issue of rising debt also led to more people considering equity release. According to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) 5% of over 60’s were experiencing problems with debt, compounded by the affects of the recession. In the difficult economic climate equity release has the potential to unlock a lump sum or regular payments to supplement income.

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By consolidating your existing unsecured debts, you may extend the term and overall cost of these debts.

Related posts:

1. Equity Release Could Help Homeowners with Credit Card Debt
2. Enjoy Financial Freedom in 2010 with a Lifetime Mortgage
3. Five Top Reasons For Equity Release
4. Equity Release Customers Encouraged by New House Price Increases