Rightmove: Mortgage rates are moving in a ‘positive direction’

Home-movers are set for a period of stability in the mortgage market, Rightmove claims.

The portal’s latest mortgage tracker found average mortgage rates have fallen slightly over the past week, making it cheaper for buyers to borrow.

The average five-year fixed mortgage rate across all loan-to-values (LTVs) is now 5.79%, up from 3.89% a year ago, down from 5.86% last week, Rightmove said.

Meanwhile, the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is now 6.40%, up from 3.77% a year ago, down from 6.46% last week.

Rightmove said the average monthly mortgage payment on a typical first-time buyer type property when taking out an average five-year fixed, 85% LTV mortgage, is now £1,204 per month, up from £992 per month a year ago but down from £1,226 last week

Rightmove’s mortgage expert Matt Smith said: “The positive direction for rates continues this week albeit a little more slowly, with five-year rates edging down slightly more than two-year equivalent products. Swap rates are broadly flat week-on-week in response to a range of economic indicators published last week, but we should get more sense of any impact in the coming days.

“We are likely to see a continued period of stability for home-movers at least for now, and while the market remains sensitive to any surprises, it appears that lenders will continue to price competitively where they can.” 

It comes as Nationwide became the latest lender to reduce its rates yesterday by up to 0.40 percentage points.