Mortgage news
Bank Base Rate stays at 0.5% for 12th consecutive month
Dale Mortgage Brokers comments on the decision to retain the Bank Base rate to 0.5% for the 12th consecutive month and on what's happening in the mortgage market at the moment.
"We have now seen the Bank Base Rate stay at the low level of half of one percent (0.5%) for the 12th consecutive month. During February it was reported that the UK economy had actually grown and although this is positive news, it still suggests that the wider economy is fragile and growth will be slow and limited for the near future.
The low interest rates have certainly benefitted many customers who have seen their mortgage repayments reduce substantially over the last year or so. However, inflation is starting to rise quite significantly and a rise in interest rates to more historically "normal" levels will inevitably have to come at some stage. The question is - when will the economy be strong enough to overcome any rise in rates that may introduced?
Product Availability
February and March (to date) has seen competition for business amongst the major high street mortgage lenders, with the number of products available remaining around the 3,500 level, some 1,110 more than the same period last year. Although we have seen overall product numbers increase, lenders are still very cautious when assessing a customer's suitability for a mortgage.
90% Mortgages
We are now seeing some significant competition from lenders offering higher loan to value mortgages with some 30 different lenders currently offering products at up to 90% of a properties purchase price, a significant increase from only several months ago.
Remortgaging
February has continued to see a steady level of remortgage business but we do expect to see this start to rise slowly in the coming months as lenders look to attract new customers with increasingly attractive remortgage deals. With several lenders recently increasing their Standard Variable Rates without any corresponding increase in Bank Base Rate, some customers may want to consider remortgaging to a fixed rate to protect themselves from any further increases that a lender may choose to pass on, as and when interest rates rise, as they undoubtedly will at some stage in the future.
More news