UK Mortgage Market Update

The UK mortgage market has become more challenging over the past week, with fixed mortgage rates continuing to move upwards as lenders respond to higher wholesale funding costs and uncertainty over the outlook for inflation.Several major lenders have repriced mortgage ranges, while the latest market data shows average rates increasing across different deposit levels.However, the housing market itself is showing some tentative signs of improvement. New buyer enquiries have become less negative according...Read More

Mortgage "pain" not easing for UK borrowers; average fixed rates climb

On Tuesday, the average two-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate on the market was sitting at its highest level since May 28, while the average fie-year fix was at its highest since April 12, Moneyfacts said.It said the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate on the market on Tuesday was 5.73%, up from 5.68% on Monday.The average five-year fixed residential mortgage rate on Tuesday was 5.78%, up from 5.73% on Monda...Read More

Mortgage industry predictions for 2025

As the market closes on a somewhat turbulent year, there is cautious optimism within the industry for 2025. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has predicted that 2025 will see healthy lending growth, greater intermediary business and more remortgaging. In its latest report the association expects the share of mortgage business conducted through intermediaries to continue its upwards...Read More

Is now a good time to buy a house?

UK as a whole, the average house price is just 1% below the record highs reached in the summer of 2022, according to the Nationwide House Price Index. The average property price rose 3.7% in November 2024 from the previous year, the fastest rate of annual growth for two years. The average property cost £286,144 in November 2024, but of course that figure masks a wide variation in prices in town...Read More

Mortgage arrears rise

UK Finance has reported on a rise in arrears across both residential and buy-to-let mortgages over the past few months. In the last quarter of 2023, it highlighted a 7% rise in residential, and an 18% rise in buy-to-let mortgage areas. ....Read More

Home Price Index Continues to Grow at Record Pace

The rate of home price increases accelerated again in October from their already heightened pace. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said its House Price Index (HPI) rose 1.5 percent compared to September. This was down slightly from a 1.7 percent increase from August to September, however the annual increase jumped more than a point, from 9.1 percent in September to 10.2 percent........Read More

Pandemic's Disproportionate Effects on Housing Supply, Affordability

The Urban Institute says that homes categorized as low priced, that is in the bottom 20 percent of the distribution, appreciated 126 percent between the turn of the century and the end of 2019. During that same 20-year period, those in the top 20 percent of the price distribution increased only 87 percent. An analysis of 285 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) by Jung Hyun Choi, John Walsh, and Laurie Goodman found that rapid employment growth.......Read More