Several lenders have refreshed and re-priced their mortgage products for the new year with a new lender in the shape of Accord Mortgages starting to offer mortgages at 90% loan to value and Newcastle Building Society re-entering the 95% loan to value market.
Longwell Green-based Nigel Bull, one of a team of Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) representatives operating from Besley Hill’s offices throughout Bristol and Gloucestershire, says this is good news for borrowers with smaller deposits or lower levels of equity, allowing more potential buyers to access the market.
Nigel reports that December saw the anticipated seasonal slowdown in the housing and mortgage market, although activity amongst purchasers and remortgage borrowers was ahead of the same period in 2010.
“As you would expect in the current economic climate,” says Nigel, “many purchasers continue to opt for the certainty that fixed rate mortgages offer, with three out of four buyers electing to fix.
“January saw changes in the average rates available, with the average two, three and five year fixed rates and two year tracker rate all rising very slightly.
“The average fixed mortgage rates for January are 4.27% (two year), 4.53% (three year) and 4.61% (five year), all of which are below the same period twelve months ago, although average two year trackers at 3.50% are marginally above this time last year.”
According to Nigel Bull, those homeowners remortgaging are also still firmly in favour of fixed rates but the proportion is slightly less, with just under two thirds choosing fixed rate deals.
No comments:
Post a Comment