mortgage rates
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Housing Market
Bank of England cuts interest rate to 0.25%
The rate cut of half a percentage point by the Bank of England as a monetary stimulus has been welcomed by property experts.
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Latest property news
Mortgage rates hit nine-year low
Interest rates on mortgages have hit record lows, but borrowers are being hit with higher fees, as banks look to protect their profit margins, according to figures from Moneyfacts.co.uk. The average interest rate on a two-year fixed mortgage fell to 2.52 per cent in February, down from 3.14 per cent a year earlier and the lowest level since Moneyfacts.co.uk, which compiled the data, began monitoring the sector in 2007. But while interest rates might be falling, banks are increasing the fees they charge borrowers to arrange a loan, with the average mortgage fee today being a full £68 higher than in June 2014 – hitting a 21-month high. Some of the fees borrowers are being asked to pay is nothing short of shocking – up to £7,499. “The current mortgage market boasts some of the lowest rates on record, which is great news for borrowers, but the increase in the average mortgage fee clearly shows that some of these headline grabbing rates are being compensated for elsewhere,” said Charlotte Nelson, from Moneyfacts.co.uk. “Some of the fees borrowers are being asked to pay are nothing short of shocking, with up to £7,499 being charged for some high value loans,” she added.
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Housing Market
First-time buyer activity hits pre-recession high
There was a sharp increase in the volume of first-time buyers in the UK in July, as the prospect of a rise in mortgage borrowing costs encouraged more young purchasers to acquire their first home. The latest First Time Buyer Tracker index from Your Move and Reeds Rains reveals that the number of first-time buyers reached their highest level in July since the recession, paying £161,985, on average, which is 8.9 per cent higher than in the corresponding month in 2014. Overall, there were 29,700 sales of residential properties to first-time purchasers in July, up 4.9 per cent month-on-month. This is in spite of the fact that the average first-time buyer now requires a deposit of £27,975, which is up 10 per cent compared with July 2014’s figure of £25,429. While rising deposit costs may have deterred some prospective purchasers in recent months, increasing real wages have enabled some first-time buyers “to shoulder the short term burden of a slightly higher deposit” to spare the risk of losing out on a good mortgage deal, according to Adrian Gill (left), Director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains. He added, “This month’s particularly high transaction rate is also partially due…
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