THE past seven years have not reflected boom nor bust for the housing market. This was demonstrated at the end of the final quarter of 2001 when the Paragon Mortgages FACT Index, the quarterly test of mortgage market confidence among professional advisors, completed its seventh year.

Despite the terrorist attacks on September 11 and other recessionary factors built into the storm forecasts for the economy, the index scaled its second highest peak to climb to 120.3. This is again the highest for any quarter when 123.9 was reached during the last quarter of 1997.

The leanest point of the last seven years was the winter of 1999/2000, when the index for quarter four of 1999 dropped to 96.6 and fell even lower for the beginning of the millennial year to only 99.00 for the first quarter of 2000.

John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said that aside from the millennial lack of confidence and a single fourth quarter bout of winter gloom at the end of 1998, confidence among mortgage professionals had been continuous over the period.

"The years, 1995 and 1996 saw confidence return to the mortgage market," he added.