Property owners whose fixed rate mortgages are set to end soon could save thousands of pounds this year as lenders have reignited a price war.
Just days into 2024, Halifax was the first to cut their rate on remortgage deals by up to 0.83 percentage points.
The cut applied to two-year, five-year and ten-year fixed-rate deals and is equivalent to a £145 a month reduction for those on a £300,000 loan with 25 years of repayment left and a 40 per cent stake in their home.
Halifax also cut rates for existing borrowers who refinance with the bank by up to 0.92 percentage points.
But other lenders have now followed suit, igniting a price war and benefiting homeowners and prospective buyers.
HSBC has since announced it will be cutting its mortgage rates to below 4% for a five year deal for those borrowing up to 60% of the property value.
An HSBC spokesperson said: “Our new fixed mortgage rates will see significant cuts across the board which will be a welcomed move. Specifically, for customers wishing to remortgage, our rates will start from 3.94% for a five-year deal at 60% LTV [loan-to-value] with a £999 fee.”
First Direct also announced it will be launching a sub 4% mortgage deal – one of which is a 10-year fix.
This will take the total number of sub-4 per cent mortgage deals on the market to 10 – eight are five-year fixes and two are for a decade.
Boxing Day record number of sellers
New data from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove has revealed that a record number of sellers came to market on Boxing Day. The statistics show that there was a 26% increase in new sellers, beating the previous record of last year.
Buyers also got their new year moving plans in motion on Boxing Day, with the number of buyers contacting estate agents about homes for sale nearly quadrupling (+273%) from Christmas Day, and 17% higher than Boxing Day last year.
Visits to the Rightmove platform nearly doubled (+84%) between Christmas Day and Boxing Day and were 8% higher than last year.
Boxing Day traditionally signals the start of home-mover activity starting to ramp up following the usual lull over Christmas.
Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said: “The scale of this year’s Boxing Day bounce is an early positive sign at the start of the year that buyers and sellers are out there and taking action, likely including some movers who had put their plans on hold last year.
“Whilst it is early days, it will be key to monitor activity as it ramps up through the end of winter and into spring, particularly to track whether sellers are pricing attractively enough to agree a sale with a buyer quickly, given buyers now have more choice to consider than last year and are still very price sensitive.”
Further reading
Selling – Oakwood Property Solicitors
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