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| |  These signs are staying up longer than they used to as the housing market slows down Credit crunch The world economy is experiencing some difficulty at the moment. The price of fuel is rising and in the UK the price of property is falling. Problems in the US banking system have led to what is now known as 'the credit crunch'. Callum and Jackie discuss this topic and look at some of the language that has become common in the business news.
This week's question: 'Credit crunch' is an expression which has only recently become widespread. When is the first mention that Callum finds of it on the BBC website? a) January 2007 b) June 2007 c) December 2007 Listen out for the answer to this question at the end of the programme or try searching the website for yourself!
[an error occurred while processing this directive] Vocabulary from the programme the credit crunch a term that has recently become common to describe the situation when it becomes difficult to borrow money at low interest rates. This situation applies to banks and other organisations as well as individuals the bubble has burst a period of time when something that has been very successful has come quickly to an end Example: "It looks as if the bubble had burst for the property market in the UK." negative equity a situation where the value of your property is less than the money you have borrowed to pay for it. If you sell your property you will not be able to repay the money you borrowed Example: "Thousands of people are going to find themselves in negative equity if house prices continue to fall." a first-time buyer somebody who has never owned property before who is buying for the first time. a mortgage the money that is borrowed from a financial organisation to pay for a property Example: "It used to be possible to get 100% mortgages, but since the credit crunch this is very rare now." the property ladder the process of owning a property then selling it and buying a better property Example: "It's very difficult for those on low incomes to get onto the property ladder." Extras  Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)  Programme script (pdf - 37 K) Try the quiz!Related links Global credit crunch - facts and figures | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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