Mortgage Rate Cuts Welcomed - Again!
News that more mortgage rates have been cut across the sector has been welcomed - again - by the consumer but are first time buyers really getting value for money? Are they really benefitting by as much as the mortgage providers would have you believe?
The latest companies to cut rates are Alliance and Leicester where their tracker mortgage rate has been trimmed by 0.55% to 6.19% on loans up to £250,000. Britannia Building Society has also reduced rates for first time buyers with a two year fixed mortgage at 5.44% - although there is a £999 set up fee and a 25% deposit is required. Woolwich also got in on the act with a three year fixed mortgage offer which has been reduced from 5.97% to 5.69% although again there is a set up fee of just under £1,000.
In many ways it seems that what first time buyers make up in the rate drop they lose on the increased set up fees and deposit requirements. It would be interesting to see the number of these new mortgage offers approved by the banks and who exactly is gain from these headline grabbing changes. We need more liquidity not headline grabbing offers which are not as good as they look under the surface.
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