Nationwide has noted significant changes in the UK mortgage market in the past two years. Attractive standard variable rates have meant fewer borrowers coming to the end of fixed-rate deals have remortgaged onto a new fix, with the proportion of mortgage balances on fixed rates falling from 48% to 36% between the final quarter of [...]
New figures from the Bank of England show total net lending secured on UK dwellings increasing by £0.1 billion in July, although the rise is well below June’s increase of £0.5 billion and the previous six-month average of £0.8 billion. Approvals for house purchase stood at 48,722 with the total broadly in line with a [...]
The recovery of the UK housing market could be under threat with reports that the Bank of England may restrict mortgage lending. The Bank’s deputy governor, Charlie Bean, has apparently indicated that new measures aimed at stabilising the economy could set deposit levels for UK mortgage borrowers at between 10% and 25%. The deputy governor [...]
Margins on fixed-rate mortgages have hit an all time high, according to research by Moneyfacts.co.uk, which puts the mark-up on today’s two-year fix at 3.29%, compared with 1.28% two years ago. The rise means that for a homeowner borrowing £150,000, repayments have spiralled by £149 per month, or £3,576 over the term of the loan. [...]
Britain’s homeowners are typically finding their mortgage repayments twice as affordable as when house prices peaked, in 2007. Research from Halifax has revealed that in June, the average monthly mortgage repayment accounted for 28% of disposable income, compared to 50% three years ago. However, first-time buyer numbers fell to 94,600 in the first six months [...]
Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £13.6 billion in July, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The figure shows a 5% increase on June but is down 3%, from £14 billion, a year earlier. The CML reckons that last month’s increase represents a fairly typical seasonal rise but points out that underlying activity [...]