Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
Northern rock has issued its first competitive mortgage rates since a run on the bank almost brought it to its knees last summer. It has two-year fixed-rate loans that, while not the very best on the market, are good enough to bring in new customers. For buyers there is a rate of 6.39% and for remortgagers a rate of 6.49%. Both have a £995 fee. The lowest rates for two-year fixed deals are available from First Direct and Yorkshire BS.
Northern Rock has been trying to move existing customers to rivals since last September. Its rates have got progressively more expensive as it tried to price itself out of the market to avoid taking on new business. These new rates are not available for existing customers. While these rates are not the very best, where they have a big advantage is that they are fully flexible, meaning you can overpay as much as you like without penalty.
Tags: buyers, existing customers, First Direct, fixed rate, mortgage, new rates, no repayment penalty, Northern rock, remortgage, two-year fixed rate, Yorkshire BS
Posted in Banking, Credit crunch, Finance, Government, Mortgages, Northern rock, Re-mortgage | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Homeowners are facing fees of up to £5,000 to take out a mortgage. A devastating report released yesterday shows that the average cost has almost doubled in a year. Interest rates charged by banks have also gone up. Separate Government figures out yesterday brought further bad news in that house prices are falling at their fastest rate since records began. After all the panic in the mortgage market, people may be tempted to grab the best headline rate deal but the fees must also be taken into consideration. HSBC charges up to £5,000 for its recently introduced ‘Rate Matcher’ deal, which lets homeowners whose current fixed-rate deal is about to expire get the same rate with HSBC for another two years. The mortgage meltdown continued yesterday with the number of deals available falling to just over 4,000 from 15,599 last summer.
Tags: arrangement fees, fixed rate, House prices, HSBC, mortgage, rate matcher, remortgage
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, HSBC, Mortgages, Property Prices, Re-mortgage | No Comments »
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Within hours of the Bank’s announcement at noon, nine of the top ten lenders said they would pass the full quarter-point cut to their borrowers. Only the stricken Northern Rock did not move its rates following the decision to bring down rates from 5.5% to 5.25%. The ‘rush to cut’ follows criticism of banks and building societies for ripping off mortgage holders after the last rate reduction just before Christmas. About 20% of lenders did not pass on the whole of the December decrease to hard-pressed borrowers. The rate cut will help only the minority of borrowers, roughly one in five, who have a mortgage with a variable interest rate. About 50% of homeowners have a fixed-rate loan which will not be affected.
Tags: fixed rate, Northern rock, Rate reduced, variable rate
Posted in Banking, Mortgages, Property | No Comments »
