Three more mortgage lenders have announced rate cuts across their mortgage deals.
Hot on the heels of Barclays and Coventry Building Society cutting rates earlier this week, Halifax, HSBC and Clydesdale Bank have announced their own reductions.
Ahead of the anticipated interest rate cut by the Bank of England today, Halifax has cut rates by up to 0.3% on remortgage deals, while home movers and first-time buyers will see rate reductions of up to 0.11%.
“Where the Halifax goes other lenders tend to follow, so these cuts could trigger a chain reaction,” Andrew Montlake, managing director at mortgage broker Coreco told the press. “The markets have baked in a rate cut on Thursday.”
Halifax is now offering one of the cheapest five-year fixed rates for those remortgaging with at least 40% equity in their homes, with its 4.18% five-year fix coming with a £999 fee.
For those needing a mortgage to cover 75 per cent of their home’s value, Halifax is offering a 4.36%, also with a £999 fee.
Elsewhere, Clydesdale’s cuts saw a number of its two-year and five-year fixed rate mortgage deals lowered by up to 0.28%, while HSBC’s changes to both its residential and buy-to-let product range will take effect from today, although the lender will not reveal the rates until later this morning.
Since 16 January, five-year swaps have fallen from 4.17% to 3.91% and two-year swaps have dropped from 4.29% to 4.05%, enabling lenders to make mortgage rate cuts.
Homebuyers are also benefitting from a greater selection of choice when it comes to the number of mortgage products available.
According Alexander Hall, borrowers have benefited from an increase in choice across the board.
The mortgage advisor says buy-to-let investors have benefited to the greatest extent, with some 2,220 products currently available, up 12.9% over the last year and 7.9% since the Autumn Statement in October last year alone.
First-time buyers have also seen a considerable improvement when it comes to mortgage market choice. It is estimated that there are currently some 694 mortgage products available to first-time buyers, up 2.7% since the Autumn Budget and 11% higher versus a year ago.
Home movers have seen mortgage product availability climb by 4.8% since the Autumn Budget alone, with those looking to remortgage seeing a 4.7% increase in the number of products available.
Alexander Hall director, Stephanie Daley, said: “Whilst Bank of England rates have started to reduce, we’re yet to see any notable improvement with respect to mortgage rates and, in fact, our previous research shows that the average mortgage rate is currently around 8% higher than it was a year ago.
“However, the good news for homebuyers is that mortgage product availability has improved and there is now a greater degree of choice, with more options available to them even in the few short months since the Autumn Budget.”
She added: “Specifically, for first-time buyers, not only has the number of products available increased but so has the number of lenders who are now offering higher income multiples to help ease the affordability challenge when getting on the ladder.”
Lenders cut mortgage rates ahead of Bank of England decision on Thursday
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/more-lenders-drop-mortgage-rates-as-product-choice-improves/
