More people remortgaged in the UK in the last quarter of 2017 than at any time since 2009, according to figures from the Bank of England.
The rush came as banks reacted to the first rise in interest rates in a decade, which came in November 2017. UK lenders pulled more than 300 products from the market, many of them high loan-to-value mortgages of 90 per cent or above.
‘It is important to remember that mortgage rates still remain very low by historical standards,’ said property expert Nicky Burridge. ‘There are still more than 4,500 different deals available and the Bank of England does not expect mortgage availability to change in the coming months.’
It is understandable that mortgage rates would rise from their historic lows of 2.20 per cent for a tracker product. The question now is how far and how fast rates may increase in the months and years ahead. ‘Mortgage rates appear to have reached their trough and are now rising again,’ added Burridge. ‘Banks have significantly decreased the amount of lending they do through loans and credit cards during 2017 and have warned of a further decreased in the first quarter of this year.’
