Mortgages
Standard variable: Borrowers await news on base rate decision
Darren Cook, mortgage expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: "Twelve months ago, a mortgage borrower could pick and choose from in excess of 15,000 mortgage products and handed an advance of 125% of the actual property value.
Lending for house purchase lifts but remortgaging drops
Lending for house purchase increased slightly from April to May, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Loans for house purchase increased by 4% in volume to 52,700, and by 2% in value to £7.9 billion; although both were 44% lower than May last year.
Fixed rate mortgages remain popular
Brits continue to choose fixed rate mortgages while average rates are increasing to ten year highs in attempts to counteract high inter-bank lending.
BoE ‘equity release' numbers are being misread
Statistics published last week by the BoE are not for bespoke Equity Release products, but for all re-mortgages for purposes other than a new house purchase.
Equity release market remains buoyant
As the global credit crunch tightens its grip on the UK housing market and industry experts predict we are yet to see the worst, the equity release market continues to buck the trend and prosper.
Fixed rate deals continue to increase
Darren Cook, mortgage expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: "It is now three weeks since the peak in swap rates and we would expect to see the cost of fixed rate deals starting to fall, but this isn't the case. In fact the opposite is true, with rates continuing to rise.
Shared ownership mortgage prevents Big Brother style squabbles
Cheshire Building Society is offering a Shared Ownership mortgage for those struggling to get on the property ladder.
Abbey cuts mortgage rates
Abbey is reducing the rates by up to 0.20% on a number of its 75 per cent loan-to-value fixed rate and tracker mortgage deals.
HSBC: Moneysupermarket.com on HSBC's mortgage range
HSBC head of mortgages Martijn van der Heijden said: "We would whole-heartedly agree that home buyers should shop around and compare the market because more often than not in recent months they would have come to HSBC.
Nationwide cuts the price of fixed rate and tracker mortgage deals
Nationwide Building Society has announced that it is cutting the price of some of its fixed rate and tracker mortgage deals by up to 0.27%.
To guard or not to guard that is the question
"There is clearly a lot to be said for peace of mind when it comes to financial products, after all, the King of mortgage protection - the fixed rate - is as popular as ever.
MarketGuard launches Interest Rate Insurance
Commenting on the MarketGuard Interest Rate Insurance launch, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said:
HSBC's new 4.99 per cent mortgage offer
Commenting on HSBC's headline grabbing 4.99 per cent mortgage offer, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: "HSBC has continually looked to grab the headlines throughout the turbulence in the mortgage markets.
Abbey launches new ten-year fixed rate mortgage
Latest figures from the Abbey Remortgage Index shows that demand for longer-term fixed-rate deals remains strong. Five-year fixes are by far the most popular option, with 27 per cent of people saying that if they took a remortgage deal tomorrow they would choose a five-year fix.
Heartbreak for homeowners in July
July is set to be a painful month for homeowners with cheap fixed rate mortgages, with £30 billion worth of deals due to finish this month. And a moneysupermarket.com poll of site users reveals 51 per cent of homeowners whose mortgage deals end soon haven't started looking for a new one.