New from the Natwest Bank is a three year tracker mortgage that, as well as being free of fees, has a step down interest rate that reduces each year.
For customers looking at a remortgage there will be no set up fees, valuation or legal fees said a Natwest Bank spokesman. In addition it will offer customers the chance to move to a different Natwest mortgage (fixed rates only) should they feel it will be better value. This option is open to customers after three months.
A Natwest Bank spokesman said that this new step down mortgage they are offering will be met warmly by customers who are looking for a simple and straightforward deal.
A review of the current mortgage market by Legal and General shows that the fixed rate mortgage is still very popular with consumers despite the recent rate rises they have experienced.
Legal and General have looked at the differences in mortgage choices between Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of this year, seeing where the key trends are. Fixed rate mortgages fared very well, going up from 35 percent of the market in Q1 to 58 percent in Q2. This was achieved even though interest rates went up, on average, to 6.51 percent from 5.87 percent on the popular 2 year fixed rate mortgage.
The market for mortgages is going to remain very keen on fixed rate products it seems due to the expectation of increased mortgage costs in the future. House buyers want a level of security say Legal and General, something that a fixed rate mortgage provides as the repayment amount will not be affected by base rate changes.
As of 17 June the Nationwide Building Society mortgage rates will be increased by up to 0.5 percent on a number of their products.
New customers taking fixed rate or tracker mortgages, as well as those remortgaging, will face higher interest rates, a situation that the nationwide Building Society is blaming on the increased cost of borrowing between financial institutions. Looking at the broader picture the interest rate on a 2 year fixed rate mortgage with a five percent deposit is around 1.4 percent more than it was just a year ago.
A Nationwide Building Society spokesman defended the changes, explaining how their costs had increased and left them with no other option but to pass on some of that cost to their customers. They were not alone in increasing their rates either, with many other big name lenders increasing their rates too.
