The mortgage market picked up with pre-pricing this week, which included some notable rate moves by prominent brands that snatched the headlines.

As Moneyfacts finance expert Rachel Springall points out these moves lead to a drop in the overall average two- and five-year fixed rates week-on-week.

The prominent brands to reduce selected fixed rates this week included Virgin Money by up to 0.40%, Santander by up to 0.27%, Lloyds Bank by up to 0.37%, Halifax by up to 0.37%, Barclays Mortgage by up to 0.26%, NatWest and RBS by up to 0.19%, HSBC by up 0.17% and The Co-operative Bank by up to 0.36%.

Building societies also made a few rate moves this week, those to reduce fixed rates included Furness Building Society by up to 0.30%, Chorley Building Society by up to 0.25%, Principality Building Society by up to 0.20%,  Leeds Building Society by up to 0.16%, Coventry Building Society by up to 0.19% and Suffolk Building Society by up to 0.30%.

Springall explains that there were some eye-catching deals to surface this week, including a two-year fixed rate deal from HSBC, priced at 5.19% and available at 90% loan-to-value for house purchase customers, it charges a product fee of £999, but includes a free valuation and £250 cashback incentive, so this could be an attractive choice for with a limited deposit.

She concluded: “As a new month kicked off, several lenders moved to reduce their standard variable rates, a month after the base rate cut. The market picked up with fixed rate mortgage cuts, which was a positive change from last week’s quiet activity.

“It will be interesting to see how much more lenders are prepared to compete this month, considering swap rate market volatility.”