Mortgage news
GENERAL ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT - BANK BASE RATE RETAINED AT 0.5% FOR 13TH MONTH
Dale Mortgage Brokers comments on the formal announcement by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown that the general Election is to be held on Thursday 6th May 2010.
"The election will be dominating proceedings and it is therefore no surprise that the Bank Base Rate has once again been retained at half of one percent (0.5%) for the thirteenth month.
It has been reported that growth in the UK economy appears to be performing better than many of our competitors and inflation has recently reported to have fallen back from the 3.5% to 3%.
The early part of April has seen a drop in the number of mortgage products typically available from the numbers witnessed in early to mid March. Although overall product numbers have reduced marginally, a number of lenders have continued to cut the rates on their headline products thereby continuing to offer some great deals to prospective borrowers.
Product numbers in the all important first time buyer sector (90% LTV) have actually increased slightly from last month although it must be said that lenders both in this sector and in general remain very cautious in their assessment of a borrower's suitability. The first time buyer sector has had further support with the surprise announcement in the recent budget from the Chancellor of the waiving of Stamp Duty for all first time buyers for property purchases up to £250,000. With the recent end of the previous stamp duty holiday at the end of December 2009, many would be first time buyers will have felt that they had missed out on the savings that the stamp duty holiday offered. The new initiative now potentially provides them with up to an extra £2,500 that they can use to contribute towards their property purchase price or put towards conveyancing costs, valuation and survey fees, mortgage application fees, removal costs etc. This additional financial incentive for some may also mean being able to take out a mortgage at a lower loan to value and as a consequence pay a reduced rate of interest.
Re-mortgage levels continue to remain steady but lenders are continuing to sharpen their propositions to attract new borrowers in this area.
Borrowers during March continued to favour tracker (variable rate) mortgages slightly over fixed rates with approximately 54% opting for trackers versus 46% choosing fixes but as we draw nearer to an inevitable rise in interest rates we do expect to see more borrowers opt for fixed rates in future.
More news