Hard-up homeowners forced to sell

Houses are starting to go on the market as West Midlands homeowners caught in the credit crunch are forced to sell because of soaring repayments, property experts said today.

Although only a handful of cases have been seen so far, estate agents and chartered surveyors in the region are reporting cases of people who borrowed big when rates were low and are now being forced to sell as their repayments go beyond what they can afford.

Others who are putting their homes on the market have been caught by the end of their cheap fixed-rate mortgage deals and now can't find a new mortgage they can afford.

Yesterday, the property website Rightmove.co.uk accused some homeowners of being "in denial" about the state of the housing market.

Nationwide, asking prices had risen by 0.8 per cent last month, although in the West Midlands were they were down by 2.9 per cent.

But experts stress that the overall housing market in the West Midlands is still stable, with more people walking into estate agents looking for homes and demand still outstripping the supply of affordable properties.

Nick Berriman, of Tettenhall-based estate agents Berriman Eaton, said today: "It is a tougher market but I feel very strongly that it is not the disastrous market some people have been predicting.

"People are having to take their agent's advice and put a sensible price on their home if they want to sell it.

"They can't put a five or ten per cent 'hope' value on top and expect to find a buyer.

"At the same time, we have had properties for around £900,000 and £275,000, and both have gone for more than the asking price.

"But we are starting to see one or two people are feeling the pinch from the credit crunch and are putting their homes on the market because they are unable to keep up the mortgage payments."

Harvey Williams, West Midlands spokesman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, said: "People are finding it much more difficult than they were last August, before Northern Rock.

"We are seeing some homes come on the market because people can no longer afford the repayments.

"But in the Black Country and the West Midlands it has been much more stable than in other, more volatile, areas of the country.

"Under the surface the demand for property is still greater than the supply." he added.

"People are still willing to buy homes as long as they are at the right price and they can get a mortgage they can afford."