While the credit crunch has brought the weight of the world down on the shoulders of many property owners around the world, there are actually some people that have been unaware of the lack of credit. There is a distinct group of individuals that have not had to bear any weight from the property credit crunch and it is these people that might ultimately be responsible for getting property markets in the doldrums going again.
This group are the rich, people that are interested exclusively in the international high-end mortgage markets.
The high-end mortgage market not only appears to be unaffected by the credit crunch that has brought many companies and investors to their knees, but in fact it appears as if the high-end mortgage market might actually be gaining strength in many countries around the world.
Andrew Arlott is a spokesman for Investec, a company that almost exclusively does businesses for properties that are worth in excess of GBP 1 million or approximately properties in excess of $2 million. According to Arlott, "It's certainly the most resilient end of the market, I think. In terms of us, it’s business as usual – it hasn't impacted what our business does at all."
The high-end markets of the world appear to be in such good shape that the buyers of those mortgages appear to be in the mood for high-risk deals such as the ability to switch mortgage currencies in mid-mortgage in order to attempt to lessen the amount of debt involved. That kind of risk usually requires a person to feel very good about their financial situation and that of course shows exactly how healthy the high-end mortgage market is worldwide.
According to a recent survey done within the United Kingdom, the number of houses worth in excess of GBP 1 million has tripled within the last half-decade and that rate of increase is showing no sign whatsoever of slowing down even in the face of a massive credit crunch.
