Friday 8 May 2015

How to find record low mortgage rates

Mortgage rates have hit record lows, from just 1.09% for a two-year deal to 1.99% for a five-year deal.

Mortgage rates are continuing to tumble as lenders compete to stay in the best-buy spotlight, figures showed today.

The average cost of a two-year fixed rate mortgage for people with a 40 per cent deposit has fallen to a new record low of 1.91 per cent.

The typical cost of a five-year deal for someone borrowing 60 per cent of their property’s value has also fallen during the past few weeks, dropping to 2.64 per cent from 2.71 per cent at the beginning of April.

The figures come as lenders continue to fight to head up the best-buy tables, with two banks both recently launching new record-low fixed rate deals.

HSBC is offering a five-year fixed rate mortgage of 1.99 per cent, for people with a 60 per cent per cent deposit who paid a £1,499 fee, the lowest interest rate on record for this term.

Meanwhile, The Co-operative Bank jumped to the top of the charts with a two-year fixed rate loan of 1.09 per cent, on a 60 per cent loan to value ratio (LTV) with a £1,449 arrangement fee, also the cheapest deal ever seen for the term.

Many lenders are currently offering two-year fixes for less than 1.5 per cent, including Lloyds Bank at 1.14 per cent, Yorkshire Building Society at 1.18 per cent and the West Brom at 1.19 per cent.

But while these deals typically require a deposit of at least 35 per cent, eye-catching rates are not limited to those borrowing a lower proportion of their home.

The West Brom is offering a two-year fixed rate loan of 1.89 per cent for people with only a 20 per cent deposit, while Leek United Building Society has a deal of 2.69 per cent on 90 per cent LTV mortgages.

We are likely to see more headline grabbing deals as the year comes to a close, lenders will be looking to get customers on board to not only meet lending targets, but they also need to ensure they have decent deals on offer before the Bank of England rises interest rates.

Lenders borrowed cheaply from the Government using the Funding for Lending Scheme, so rates will remain low until this money they have sidelined has dried up. “SWAP rates are starting to creep up again, however the general feel for mortgage rates right now is that lenders are still fighting to get a headline rate to attract borrowers through the door.

The high level of competition is beginning to tempt potential buyers into the housing market, as well as encouraging existing homeowners to remortgage.

The British Bankers Association recently said the number of mortgages approved for house purchase had hit a six-month high in March, while pipeline loans for those remortgaging shot to an eight-month high.

These low rate deals show that it has never been a better time to get a mortgage.

However, as with any deal, borrowers must work out the true cost, especially if they are fixed for the short-term and carry a high upfront fee.

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