Mortgage holders can be positive despite interest rates
Published On 14 January 2008
Current and prospective mortgage holders hoping for a reduction in their monthly repayments may have been disappointed when the Bank of England failed to lower interest rates last week.The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) made a decision last Thursday (January 10th) to maintain the base rate at 5.5 per cent.
However, Leeds Building Society has suggested that there are still many positive aspects of the mortgage market for borrowers.
Public relations manager Gary Brook advised that as the two-year annual swap rate is currently 5.08 per cent, compared to 5.64 per cent during the same period last year, it is not all "doom and gloom" for homeowners.
He explained: "The majority of mortgage customers have a fixed rate mortgage and, therefore, any change in rate would have had no impact.
"New borrowers, and those remortgaging, are already benefiting from cheaper fixed rate mortgage products as swap rates, which are currently around 0.55 per cent lower than this time last year, have already factored in potential decreases in base rate.
"This is also good news for the large numbers of borrowers coming to the end of their existing fixed rate deal and will minimise any payment shock."
Many market watchers expect the MPC to lower rates by 0.25 per cent next month.
