Alliance and Leicester has announced a new tracker mortgage with a headline rate of less than 6 percent.
The new Alliance and Leicester mortgage is a two year base rate tracker with a 5.98 percent headline rate and a maximum loan to value of 75 percent. There is an arrangement fee of just under GBP1,000 and borrowers can take up to a maximum of GBP1 million.
The typical two year fixed rate mortgage rate has just gone over 7 percent so this sub 6 percent figure is certain to attract keen interest. It offers a real alternative for customers and shows them that the Alliance and Leicester are really doing what they can for customers.
The Halifax House Price Index for April showed a large fall of 1.3 percent, a significant fall in the period of just one month.
Predicting the state of the housing market for the rest of the year the Halifax anticipate an overall fall that will be less than 10 percent, though there will be large differences in this depending on where in the country they are. They expect prices to actually go up in Scotland for example, though houses in the West Midlands and Wales are forecast to see heavier than average price falls.
A Halifax spokesman suggested that the falling prices should be seen against their recent history of strong price rises for several years. In this context house prices can still be seen to be very strong compared with the long term trends.
One of the biggest mortgage providers in the UK, the Halifax, has announced more interest rate reductions on several of its home loan products.
The average mortgage rate reduction made by the Halifax is 0.25 percent, with most of its main tracker and fixed rate products enjoying this cut. Potential customers should be aware that they need to put down a deposit of at least 25 percent in order to receive this lower rate.
A Halifax spokesman explained that they were passing on recent reductions in the cost of borrowing that the banks charge each other, feeling it is in the interest of the market to offer the very best possible rate whenever possible.