Activity is high and criteria is changing!

A number of lenders have launched ten year fixed rates!  One even below 3% (up to 60% of the property value).  This is a bold move by the lenders but attractive if you know your movements are going to be minimal over the next ten years.   However, the expectation that the Bank of England base rate may stay at its historic low for some while longer yet might encourage more people to consider a variable or tracker type mortgage rate over a long term fixed rate.  It's a difficult decision to make.

According to the Halifax, more borrowers purchased their first home last year than in any year since 2007.  Some 326,500 first timers purchased a home in 2014, up 22% from 2013.  The lender also reported that first time buyers accounted for 46% of all mortgaged house purchases last year.

Halifax House Price Index suggested that house prices rose at their slowest pace for 11 months in the three months to December.  The average house price hit £188,858 last month, representing 7.8% growth from £175,193 in December 2013.  On a monthly basis, prices grew 0.9 per cent from £187,197 in November and the lender says it expects house prices to grow between 3% and 5% in the next year.

Metro Bank have launched in to the Buy to Let portfolio arena.  As well as looking at individual properties to let out, the lender will now consider funding up to 25 properties with a maximum loan of £5m.  Terms apply but for this type of investor, competitive, long term and flexible funding can be a scarce resource and therefore this is a welcome addition to funding options.

And finally, good news!  Charter Court Financial Services, who currently own mortgage specialist lender Precise Mortgages, has been granted a banking license.  The new bank, which will be called Charter Savings Bank will launch in the first half of 2015 and will be a welcome new addition in the sector.

If you can, overpay!

For those lucky enough to be on a very low bank base rate tracker mortgage, you may have enjoyed a couple of ‘comfortable’ years with the bank base rate being at an all time low. However, are you one of the few on tracker rate mortgages who have taken advantage and overpaid on their monthly payments? Barclays recently carried out a survey of over 1,000 borrowers and found that only 10% were currently overpaying and 6% are planning to start overpaying this year. For those who have not yet started, this could be a missed opportunity on shaving a number of years from the term of the loan, or reducing the interest paid each month, even by just overpaying small amounts.

The Buy to Let market (investment properties) looks set to be the most competitive sector of the mortgage market as further lenders signal their intent to offer products to this area. Metro Bank, Santander and Yorkshire Building Society are just a few that have signalled their interest for later in the year. Skipton Building Society has also this week re-launched in to the Buy to Let marketplace. As First Time Buyers continue to struggle to get on the property ladder (the government First Buy Scheme may assist a few), the rental market is expected to continue its rapid growth. Interest rates for investment properties have tended to be slightly higher with larger lender fees charged for arranging these types of mortgages. However, with more lenders already competing, both rates and fees are already starting to reduce and will fall further as the market becomes crowded.

Finally, larger loan availability is also on the return. Having been somewhat restricted over the last few years, obtaining loans of £1m + have been slightly more difficult to achieve. This is set to change as Nationwide have recently increased their maximum loan to £2m at 75% of the property value and 70% above £2m on an individual case by case basis. Bank of China will also consider loans of up to £10m for the right applicants. All steps in the right direction and one might even start to get slightly excited at the increasingly positive nature of the mortgage news circulating the market of late!