Spring Mortgage Market Review
The Stamp Duty Deadline has finally passed, and the local solicitors are all in need of a holiday, such has been their workload since The Chancellor announced the increase in the Autumn Budget.
As we have seen over many years, the property/mortgage market never stands still. Having just been through the most dramatic of times with high inflation - causing volatile interest rate rises - it is quite encouraging to look back and recognise just how well prices and activity levels have been sustained.
The impact of the Higher Stamp Duty levels will be mitigated by the lower rates available now, and with slow but steady base rate falls predicted, this is certainly a good time to buy.
As a result, mainstream lenders are generally buoyant, with fierce competition and some great offers available now. Santander led the way on this, the first to ‘breach’ the 4% ceiling, within no time at all the sheer volume of applications forced them to remove the rate. The rate of 3.99% is something we haven’t seen for a long time, there is much optimism around it could be a sign of things to come. The Bank of England especially, are anticipating steady rate drops over 2025.
Current Typical Top Rates – Remortgage- Purchase – First Time Buyer
Residential 10% Deposit
5 Year Fixed 4.29%
2 Year Fixed 4.44%
Residential 25% Deposit
2 Year Fixed 3.99%
5 Year Fixed 4.04%
Residential 60% Deposit
2 Year Fixed 3.88%
5 Year Fixed 3.88%
Buy to let 25% Deposit * Many Buy to Let lenders offer much lower rates with very high arrangement fees which often more than negate the benefit of the lower rate. Whilst these are available, these are excluded from this process to give a fairer reflection of a ‘snapshot’. All rates shown have arrangement fees of less than £2000 (Some can be as high as 3% of the loan amount)
2 Year fixed 4.19%
5 Year Fixed 4.44%
Most lenders offer will a remortgage package which includes free valuation and legal fees.
Equity Release
In most cases the rate applied to an Equity Release mortgage is fixed for the whole term of the mortgage. During the cost-of-living crisis, with double-digit inflation and correspondingly high rates, we have actively encouraged clients to delay wherever possible if they were considering a lifetime Mortgage. The reduction in rates has filtered through Equity Release products and rates now start at circa 6.43%
In conclusion. We are very optimistic about the next 12 months. People looking to buy have no chance of beating the Stamp Duty deadline, but that isn’t stopping them, and remortgages are now available at what could be described as ‘normal’ rates after the extremely precarious last couple of years.
We just love helping our customers, and showcasing to those who’ve yet to experience it, our personalised service and attention to detail. Our rule is, if you’re not sure, PLEASE ask, as many times as you like. We are here to help.