Fixed-rate mortgages remain popular
Published On 12 May 2008
More and more consumers are looking for financial security by picking fixed-rate deals, a new report has suggested.April's Mortgage Monitor from Charcol showed that 78 per cent of people opted for a fixed-rate deal in April.
The report added that mortgage choices did not seem to have been affected by the reduction in deals available.
Katie Tucker, a technical manager at Charcol, commented: "These peaks normally occur when Bank rate rises are expected, but as Bank rate is widely expected to fall over the next year most of the high take-up was because fixed rates were a quarter to a half a per cent cheaper than trackers.
"Borrowers are nervous about the strength of the economy and fear that rates will soar as they did in the early 90s."
However, Ms Tucker said a large jump in interest rates prompted by a major recession was "unlikely".
Recently, the government reported that repossession orders jumped in the first months of 2008, indicating that some homeowners are struggling to make repayments after the fixed-rate mortgages expired.
