For the third month in a row the Abbey National Mortgage Index has shown a rise in the appeal of five year fixed rate mortgages to consumers.
From the survey carried out by the Abbey National there has been a 6 percent increase in those ready to go for a five year fixed rate mortgage if they were remortgaging tomorrow. The figure stands at 30 percent this month, compared with 24 percent and 12 percent in the two months previously.
A lot of the interest in these mortgages will be coming from those with existing fixed rate deals that are set to expire say the Abbey National. Having already enjoyed the security of a fixed rate mortgage these customers will take another one given the opportunity.
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New mortgage customers at the Halifax will have to pay a little more for their home loans from today if they are taking out a tracker or fixed rate mortgage product.
The Halifax tracker mortgage rate goes up to 6.29 percent from 5.99, which is 1.29 percent above the base rate set by the Bank of England. Meanwhile the three year fixed rate mortgage offer rises to 6.44 percent, up from 6.22. A Halifax spokesman clarified that the increases will apply to just 5 of the 32 different tracker mortgages they offer and 19 of the 31 different fixed rate mortgages provided.
In that context then there are still many opportunities to avoid paying the extra interest, though of course the Halifax mortgage products that have been selected are the ones that will be the most popular.
According to just released industry figures the number of mortgage approvals is down by a massive 20 percent compared with last month and almost 60 percent less than the same time last year.
There were just 28,000 mortgages approved last month, the lowest number since the records began in 1997. Bank of Scotland, for which mortgages are a core part of their business confirmed the validity of these numbers, saying they had seen similar, though not as extreme, results.
What the Bank of Scotland have seen though is a continuation in the level of remortgage business, something that they have been pleased with since this shows that there is still interest in the rates as they stand.
