Mortgage Market Update

 

The Bank of England increased the base rate for the tenth consecutive time this month and are due to meet again 23rd March.  

 

The current base rate is sitting at 4% meaning if you are currently on a Bank of England base rate tracker, your monthly payments will have been increasing in line with this. We have seen however decreases in the fixed rate markets.  

 

This is due to fixed rate money being bought on the Swap rate market.  

 

We have seen a handful of lenders offering sub 4% rates. In the last week I have started to receive emails from lenders slowly increasing said sub 4% rates.  

 

This may be for a few reasons. Firstly, they may have been inundated with applications. To manage workload and customer expectations, it is not unusual for lenders to price themselves out of the market while they catch up on applications to maintain good service levels for the customers. Secondly, we have started to see an increase on the swap market rate which in turn could have triggered lenders increasing their rates to maintain margins. However, not all lenders have started to implement increases, in fact some are continuing to reduce their 5 year fixed rates. They may be able to do this by lowering their margin expectations to gain more market share of the mortgage business. 

 

What ever the reason, interest rates are and will continue to fluctuate.  

 

Some lenders are fantastic and give us some notice when they withdraw their rates, others give us no notice. It is therefore imperative that if you want to secure a rate, don’t wait. If the swap rate market continues to increase, the likelihood is the fixed rate deals will increase.  

 

If you have 6 – 9 months left on your mortgage, talk to us today to look at your options. When reviewing the market we aren’t just looking at the lowest rate, we are looking at any associated costs with the mortgage to ensure you have the best value deal for your circumstances and eligibility. 

 

Call me today and let me help you secure your next mortgage deal. 

 

Victoria Bennett 

victoria@hdconsultants.net 

07305 396811