Mortgage rates fall across the board - could lead to positive sentiment here?28 Jul 2023 07:25
Major lenders announce cuts as markets price in lower interest rate predictions
Three of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders have cut rates on the back of better-than-expected inflation data last week.
Nationwide, one of the country’s biggest lenders, said it would reduce fixed mortgage rates by up to 0.35 percentage points on Friday.
TSB announced a drop of up to 0.55 points on its two-year purchase and remortgage products from Friday, while Barclays lowered its rates by up to 0.15 points on Thursday.
It came after HSBC was the first major lender to cut rates earlier this week by 0.35 points.
Coventry Building Society and Skipton Building Society also cut rates.
The average two-year fixed mortgage dropped from 6.86pc to 6.83pc on Thursday, according to data firm Moneyfacts.
Five-year deals were down from 6.36pc to 6.34pc, while two-year buy-to-let rates have slumped from 6.97pc to 6.94pc.
It is an encouraging sign borrowing costs may have peaked, with falling inflation beginning to ease the squeeze on household budgets.
Inflation eased to a 16-month low of 7.9pc in the year to June. This was down from 8.7pc in May and well below the 8.2pc expected by economists.
Markets are now pricing in a peak Bank Rate of between 5.75pc and 6pc – down from previous predictions of 6.75pc.
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Aaron Strutt, of broker Trinity Financial, said it was increasingly likely other lenders would follow suit as they fight for business, although Santander raised its fixed rates on some of its loans by up to 0.36 percentage points on Monday.
He said: “Swap rates have been coming down and the market is predicting that interest rates won’t go up a huge amount more, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Swap rates, which are based on market expectations for central interest rates and are a leading indicator of mortgage rates, have fallen by 0.62 percentage points since July 6.
Craig Fish, of broker Lodestone Mortgages & Protection, advised caution ahead of further inflation data expected in the next two weeks, which could push rates back up if it is worse than expected.
He said: “Let’s hope that the headwinds remain calm and settled and that this is just the start of further decreases. I think it’s too early to call a rate war.”
But Jamie Alexander, of broker Alexander Southwell Mortgage Services, said mortgage rate increases in recent months “may have been slightly excessive” and said he expected them to be revised downwards.
Ben Tadd, of broker Lucra Mortgages, said lenders had already priced in the expected increase in the Bank Rate from 5pc to 5.25pc next week, saying it was unlikely to have an impact.
Surging mortgage rates this year and in 2022 have prompted officials at HM Treasury to once again look at the benefits of Dutch-style, long-term fixed mortgages, previously mooted by Boris Johnson.
Long-term fixed-rate mortgages are popular in c
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