Mortgage borrowers still not feeling benefits of cuts
In the last two months the Bank of England has slashed base rate in an attempt to kick start the economy, but borrowers are still not feeling any real benefits as margins continue to increase and ever bigger deposits are needed to get the best mortgage deals.
Michelle Slade, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments:
Tracker Mortgages
|
8 October 2008 |
6 November 2008 |
19 November 2008 |
Base Rate |
5.00% |
4.50% |
3.00% |
LIBOR |
6.27% |
5.56% |
4.12% |
Average 2 year tracker |
6.29% |
6.17% |
5.11% |
Average 2 year tracker LTV |
77% (Max 90%) |
74% (Max 90%) |
68% (Max 75%) |
Number of 2 year trackers |
106 |
68 |
30 |
Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk 19.11.2008 |
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“The Bank of England has hinted at further rate cuts, but only customers with at least a 25% deposit can really take advantage as lenders are only bringing a small selection of deals back for the less risky customers.
“Lenders are in no hurry to return their tracker mortgages to the market, even though there is an increased demand for these types of deals. It appears that despite being urged to do so by the Government, they have still not regained their appetite to lend.
“The lenders have been blaming the high costs of funds in the money markets for not bringing rates back down, but these rates have now started to fall. Mortgage rates are not following suit, even though the margin between bank base rate and LIBOR is less than it was before the October cut.
Fixed Mortgages
|
8 October 2008 |
6 November 2008 |
19 November 2008 |
2 year swap rates |
4.78% |
3.87% |
3.38% |
Average 2 year fixed |
6.35% |
6.26% |
6.08% |
Average 2 year fixed LTV |
78% (Max 95%) |
77% (Max 95%) |
76% (Max 95%) |
Number of 2 year fixed |
256 |
244 |
242 |
Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk 19.11.2008 |
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“Fixed rates remain out of the limelight and the imbalance between the cost of funds and rates is even worse than we find with variable rates.
“The margin between the average fixed rate and swap rates continues to increase. Borrowers should be able to benefit from fixing their rates at much lower levels by now, but the cuts aren’t filtering through.
Other Mortgages
|
8 October 2008 |
6 November 2008 |
19 November 2008 |
Total number of residential mortgages |
2860 |
2321 |
2040 |
% of total at 95% LTV |
2.9% |
1.7% |
1.4% |
% of total at 90% LTV |
15.7% |
9.8% |
8.2% |
% of total at 75% LTV |
20.9% |
21.5% |
21.5% |
% of total at 60% LTV |
7.4% |
10.4% |
11.8% |
Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk 19.11.2008 |
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“Lenders are continuing to require a bigger deposit than ever before to get their best deal, with 95% deals virtually disappearing and 90% deals not far behind.
“Two weeks on from the last cut and just 28% of lenders have cut their standard variable rates. Normally by now around half of lenders would have announced their intentions.
“With base rate already at 3% and further cuts expected, it is possible that banks have reached a crossroads on where their loyalties lie. Do they cut lending rates at the expense of savers or do they continue to support their saver by committing to no further mortgage cuts?”
Moneyfacts Group
Moneyfacts is the UK’s leading independent provider of personal financial information and our data is used and trusted throughout the financial industry.
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