Fewer borrowers taking fixed rate mortgages
September 24, 2009 by Brendan O'Neill
News
According to mortgage brokerage John Charcol, the number of borrowers choosing fixed rate mortgage deals has decreased by half over the last two months and this is being attributed to the higher cost of fixed deals right now.
The brokerage stated 41.9 percent of their own customers took a fixed rate mortgage deal in the month of August, which is surprisingly low when you compare it to the 83 percent in June. It is also the lowest figure they have seen since December last year.
Instead it seems most people are opting for the variable rate mortgage deals instead. 58.1 percent of borrowers advised by John Charcol took a discount or a tracker rate mortgage according to their figures.
Fixed rate mortgage costs increase in June and July months following an increase in the cost of wholesale funding and although this has since dropped, it seems not all of this drop has been passed onto the prospective customer. In the variable rate market however, competition has increased as we ourselves have noted as two lenders have launched deals at a price of less than two per cent.
If you were to go for a mortgage right now, do you think you would prefer a fixed rate or variable rate deal considering the current interest rates?
Written by
Brendan O'Neill
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