Upward pressure on fixed rates continues, says Moneyfacts Mortgage Finance Gazette

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Fixed-rate mortgage pricing continued to rise this week, according to the latest Moneyfacts Rate Watch.

The typical two-year fix rose 1bps to 4.86%, with the average five-year fix increasing by 3bps to 4.96%, Moneyfacts found.

Last week the typical two-year fix was priced at 4.85% and the average five-year fix at 4.93%.

However, the underlying picture with mortgage pricing is more complex, with hikes from the big banks offset by cuts by building societies.

The biggest rate hikes were seen on 10-year fixes to 50% LTV, where the average price rose 15bps to 4.65%.

Other mortgage categories seeing large price increases included two-year fixes to 60% LTV, with an average rise of 5bps to 4.26%.

The mortgage type with the largest rate cuts this week was five-year fixes to 100% LTV, which fell by an average 7bps to 5.48%.

Moneyfacts finance expert Rachel Springall said: “Fixed rate increases dominated the mortgage market this week, particularly among the largest high street banks, which included Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, and Santander. However, its not all bad news as there were still some sizable reductions made by building societies and some new higher loan-to-value deals entering the arena.

“Lenders have been catching up to pass on increases in response to unsettled swap rates from a couple of weeks ago. However, shorter-term swaps appear to be moving back down again, whereas longer-term swaps are not quite following the same path. These moves could cause a diversion in the pricing between different mortgage terms in the weeks ahead.”

Noteable mortgage rate changes

• Bank of Ireland Intermediaries – Fixed rates increased by up to 23bps and reduced by up to 4bps • Bank of Ireland UK – Fixed rates increased by up to 23bps • Barclays Mortgage – Fixed rates increased by up to 15bps • Bath Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by 10bps and 5bps • Buckinghamshire Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 16bps • Clydesdale Bank – Fixed rates increased by up to 22bps • Coventry Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 10bps • Cumberland Building Society – Fixed rates increased by 5bps • Danske Bank – Fixed rates increased by up to 12bps • Darlington Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 20bps • Dudley Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 71bps • Gen H – Fixed rates increased by up to 15bps • HSBC – Fixed rates increased by up to 20bps • Metro Bank – Fixed rates reduced by up to 60bps • Nationwide Building Society – Fixed rates increased by up to 19bps • NatWest – Fixed rates increased by up to 24bps • NatWest Intermediary Solutions – Fixed rates increased by up to 24bps • Nottingham Building Society – RIO fixed rates increased by 10bps • Principality Building Society – Fixed rates increased by up to 13bps • Royal Bank of Scotland – Fixed rates increased by up to 24bps • Santander – Fixed rates increased by up to 7bps • Skipton Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 12bps; delayed-start fixed rates increased by 6bps and reduced by 3bps • Tipton & Coseley Building Society – Fixed rates reduced by up to 25bps • TSB – Fixed rates increased by up to 10bps or reduced by 5bps • Virgin Money – Fixed rates increased by up to 15bps (purchase) and 14bps (remortgage)