Mortgages | Mortgage rates, news and deals

first direct has launched a market leading offset tracker mortgage which tracks the bank of England base rate plus 2.48% for the life of the loan.

Gross mortgage lending by building societies was £1,515 million in May 2009, compared to £3,530 million in May 2008, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).

The number of loans approved for house purchase (43,414) was higher than in April and higher than the previous six-month average, according to the Bank of England (BoE).

The recent increases in rates on fixed rate mortgages have made tracker products look increasingly attractive. In fact moneysupermarket.com figures show that a borrower with a £300,000 mortgage would pay £120 a month more on an average two year fixed rate deal, than they would on an average tracker.

The consistently upward trend of new borrowers taking fixed rates has faltered this week, as borrowers respond to mortgage price increases of around 0.6% on fixed rates, and a cut of up to 0.3% to many trackers.

Legal & General's sixth report in the ‘Mortgage Purchase Index' series analyses trends from thousands of mortgage applications made in the last quarter through Legal & General's Mortgage Club.