Home Loan Lenders Cut Rates

Posted on | September 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Three of the leading mortgage lenders yesterday cut their interest rates in advance of the Bank of England’s base rate setting decision. Abbey, Lloyds SB and Cheltenham & Gloucester declared reductions of up to 0.30%.

It was the fifth drop in a month by Lloyds TSB. Skipton Building Society revealed that it now had on offer 95% per cent loans for first time buyers. This now means that the average cost of a home loan is now at levels not seen since the start of the credit crunch. This can only be seen as good news as the number of secured loans approved in July rose slightly over the previous month.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has decided to keep base rates at 5 per cent again this month and has done so since April, so what is causing the sudden reduction in mortgage rates?

The main reason is the recent fall in something called swap rates, the rates banks charge when lending to one another. These rose sharply in June, driving up mortgage interest rates, but have started to fall. Swap rates are now at their lowest for quite a few, fuelling the widespread cuts in fixed-rate mortgages.

There are additional factors driving down rates. Mortgage lenders are beginning to regain their confidence and are offering lower rates than their competitors.

The bad news is that the best rates are only available to borrowers with large deposits or loads of spare equity in their property. The higher the loan to value ratio (LTV), the higher the interest rate. Nationwide currently charges 5.78 per cent for a two-year fixed rate up to 60 per cent LTV for remortgages (with a £599 arrangement fee), rising to 5.88 per cent up to 75 per cent LTV and 6.33 per cent up to 90 per cent LTV. That means paying an extra 0.55 per cent if you borrow 90 per cent of your property’s value instead of 60 per cent. With property prices falling, people wanting to remortgage will have shrinking equity in their property, and will need to get a higher LTV loan.

These lower rates won’t last long. The next set of rates are likely to be more expensive. So buy now while stocks last.