The total number of residential mortgage products is on the rise – breaking through the 5,000 figure for the first time since May 2022. This is according to the latest UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report from Moneyfacts.
With increasing product availability we’d expect to see strong lender competition, similar to the price wars we saw in the last month or so, however this doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment.
Instead we are seeing a number of lenders actively increasing interest rates across their product ranges.
Yesterday Virgin Money, made a number of changes to their products, increasing residential fixed rates by up to 0.30%, starting from 4.09% and Buy to let (BTL) fixed rates by up to 0.30%, starting from 4.52%. And as of today HSBC has also increased rates across their residential and BTL mortgage product ranges, impacting existing and new borrowers.
Lender product rates are likely to remain similar across board whilst they wait for the Bank of England’s (BoE) whose monetary policy committee will meet on May 11 to determine whether to hike up the current interest rate levels.
What Forecasts Predict
We are seeing a mix of opinions and predictions at the moment with some analysts predicting the base rate will peak at 5% whilst others think they’ll end up a bit lower than that, somewhere between 4.5 and 4.75 per cent.
There’s unity though on suspecting the Bank of England will send rates 25 basis points higher at its next meeting on 11 May.
Interest rates currently sit at 4.25 per cent – after 11 rises since December 2021 when the Bank rate stood at just 0.1 per cent.
How we can help in times of volatility
Our “FlexiLock” service was created to support our clients in times of volatility.
We have already helped a number of clients swap their products over to lower cost deals.*
Opting for the service means we’ll search the market for the most suitable product for you and continue to monitor this right up until the product goes live. If we find a lower cost or more fitting product for your circumstances, we will switch the product over. This is done with no extra charge to you.
In most cases we can source and secure a mortgage product 6 months before your current mortgage product expires.
If you have recently been provided with an illustration by our team, it is imperative that you contact us to secure the product.
Speak to our award winning brokers today on 0208 364 3444 or follow this link to book an appointment: https://mortgagesandinsurers.co.uk/get-a-quote/
————* Truly appreciate your continued efforts to secure the best rate. Ms I Young
UK house prices rise for first time in eight months
UK house prices rose by 0.5% in April after falling for seven consecutive months, Nationwide reveals in its latest house price survey.
The figures add weight to the argument that the property market has stabilised after the 2022 mini-budget fiasco.
The average house price remained 4% below its peak in August last year which was before former Prime Minister Liz Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng briefly sent debt markets into turmoil by announcing plans for large-scale unfunded tax cuts.
Nationwide’s latest survey shows that compared with April last year, the average house price is down by 2.7%.
Over 65’s have record £2.6 trillion in housing wealth
Research reveals that owner-occupiers who are older than 65 have £2.587 trillion of net housing wealth in homes that are worth £2.735 trillion.
The finding from real estate firm Savills shows that most of that wealth – £2.038 trillion – is held by mortgage-free homeowners.
For those aged between 50 and 64, their worth is £2.213 trillion in housing equity – including £679 billion in the private rented sector.
Savills says that the over-50s in the UK now hold 78% of all of the privately held housing wealth.