In this review,we will recap for your benefit the important developments for the past week. -The Financial Services Authority (FSA) released figures that showed that the number of borrowers who had fallen behind on their mortgage repayments in the fourth quarter of 2009 fell by four percent as the lower level of interest rates continued to assist borrowers in making their mortgage payments. By the end of the year, mortgage accounts in arrears (defined as owing at least 1.5 percent of the mortgage amount) totalled 378,000. Read on…….. -Lord Turner's proposal to limit loan to value mortgages in order to prevent price bubbles in the property market has come in for some criticism. Bernard Clarke, communications manager at the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), commented"We don't think that that's an appropriate approach; we think it's a blunt tool in terms of addressing the real sources of consumer detriment." Clark also said that the CML opposed credit control because it could exclude consumers who could otherwise afford the mortgage. Before the debt crisis, lenders like Northern Rock are known to have made mortgages with an LTV of 125 percent. Read on…….. -In pursuance of its ambition to become a major player on the UK mortgage markets, the Post Office has announced further interest-rate cuts in its entire range of fixed rate mortgages. Following earlier cuts in January and February 2010, the Post Office has announced cuts in two-year, three year and five-year fixed-rate mortgages at 60 percent, 75 percent and 80 percent loan to value (LTV). There have also been cuts in the three and five-year buy to let mortgages at 75 per cent LTV as well as new three-year and five-year buy to let mortgages at 60 percent LTV. Read on ……. -Overall, a lot of experts agree that the budget is a bit of a letdown. In fact, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne called it "an empty Budget from a tired Labour Government." Read on…… - Monthly house prices fell for the first time in February 2010 since April 2009. The Land Registry reported that prices fell 0.3 percent to £164,455 though year on year prices were up by seven percent. The Land Registry figures are based on completed sales and therefore tend to lag behind figures reported by lenders. Nationwide and Halifax both reported the fall a few days ago and experts now believe that the recovery in house prices may be levelling off. The recovery appears to have been aided by a reduced supply of housing on the market and low mortgage rates. Read on…… -There has been a mixed reaction to the budget announcements from the housing market. The doubling of the threshold for stamp duty to £250,000 was seen as a boost for first-time buyers who save up to £2500. The Labour move to fund this from the increase in stamp duty on homes costing over £1 million is unlikely to draw any adverse comment from the Tories who will not want to be seen as favouring the rich. The extension of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme for another six months will mean that homeowners struggling with mortgage interest payments continue to be supported at the rate of 6.08 percent. Read on…… News brought to you by Mortgage ComparisonSpecialists The Mortgage Finders