Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Strategy. Read the original article for full details.
Average Fixed Mortgage Rates Drop as 20 Lenders Cut Prices
Twenty lenders have reduced fixed mortgage rates in response to falling swap rates, according to the latest Moneyfacts data. The average three-year fixed rate dropped by 5 basis points over the past week to 5.28%, while the average two-year fixed rate fell by 4 basis points to 5.55%. The average five-year fixed rate also decreased by 2 basis points to 5.54%.
Some loan-to-value (LTV) tiers saw even larger reductions. The average three-year fixed rate at 65% LTV fell by 18 basis points to 4.7%, and the average two-year fixed at 50% LTV dropped by 14 basis points to 4.99%. For borrowers with smaller deposits, the average two-year fixed rate at 95% LTV decreased from 6.2% to 6.15%, and at 90% LTV, the rate fell from 5.83% to 5.77%.
Building societies were prominent among those making rate cuts, with some high street banks also reducing rates. Barclays cut rates by up to 20 basis points, NatWest by up to 26 basis points, and HSBC by up to 10 basis points. Skipton Building Society reduced its 95% LTV two-year fixed deal by 12 basis points to 5.19%.
Other lenders making reductions include Accord Mortgages (up to 18bps), Coventry Building Society (up to 42bps), Darlington Building Society (up to 20bps), first direct (up to 16bps), Gen H (up to 15bps), Kensington (up to 30bps), Leeds Building Society (up to 16bps), LiveMore Capital (up to 10bps), Nationwide Building Society (up to 25bps), NatWest Intermediary Solutions (up to 26bps), Pepper Money (up to 71bps), Principality Building Society (up to 50bps), Royal Bank of Scotland (up to 26bps), Tipton & Coseley Building Society (up to 14bps), TSB (up to 30bps), and Yorkshire Building Society (up to 14bps).
These reductions may be of interest to letting agents and inventory clerks monitoring mortgage market trends, as changes in borrowing costs can influence landlord and tenant activity in the UK property sector.
Source: Mortgage Strategy