Skipton Building Society has announced it is cutting rates in the same week three of the ‘big six’ lenders introduced price hikes.
Earlier today Skipton revealed it was cutting the rates on its two-year fixed rate mortgages as well as the popular Track Record mortgage – the deposit-free product for reliable renters.
It has come as welcome relief after Nationwide, Santander and Natwest all announced they were increasing rates by up to 0.25% with effect from today (Tuesday 30 April).
But whilst Skipton has bucked an unpopular trend, the mortgage market remains unpredictable for borrowers and brokers.
Michelle Lawson, director at Lawson Financial who was speaking via the Newspage Agency said, “This is great news for borrowers, but inconsistency remains the prevailing theme in the mortgage market. While some rates are decreasing, others are on the rise.
“These small victories, however, are steps in the right direction, and we’ll gladly accept them. It takes a catalyst to ignite change, and perhaps Skipton is leading the charge.”
Today the average two-year fixed rate is 5.90%, according to Moneyfacts, this is up from an average rate of 5.87% on Monday.
Meanwhile, the average five-year fixed rate is 5.48% having increased from 5.44% on Monday.
The flurry of price changes, which have been happening since last week, come as data from HMRC revealed the number of homes sold was 6% lower in March than in the same month in 2023.
Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter, said rising mortgage rates may have put would-be buyers off making a move.
She said: “Mortgage rates have since been gradually climbing back up [since the start of the year] which may have caused prospective homebuyers to put their plans back on hold.
“Higher mortgage rates still appear to be impacting buyer demand which has consequently cooled the market, resulting in this lower level of property transactions.
“New figures from the Bank of England this morning reiterates this, revealing a significant drop in the net amount of mortgage debt borrowed, which was just £0.3bn in March, a considerable decline compared to £1.6bn in February.”
Noye added: “When combined with the ongoing cost of living pressures, many prospective buyers will continue to face an uphill battle when it comes to affordability, particularly those first-time buyers who will also likely have found it much harder to save enough money for a deposit.”
