Mortgage Prices Continue To Fall

• News
• Published: 03 Feb 2010 in Money and Mortgages

Looser lending rules from competitive banks and building societies are behind falling mortgage prices, research has shown.

The average cost of fixed rate and tracker deals has fallen steadily since the beginning of January 2010, according to research. Commentators said that lenders have dropped their prices in a bid to attract new customers in a competitive market.

Figures show that more than 300 new mortgage products have been launched since the beginning of the year. This has led to a 26% increase in the number of different deals available to people with a 10% deposit.

Commentators said that the rise in 10% mortgage deals indicated that lenders' confidence over the housing market was on the up. It is thought that new best-buy rates were launched in a bid to tempt homeowners to remortgage away from the standard variable rates held onto by many people since their last mortgage deal ended.

Eight mortgage lenders have increased their SVR for at least for some customers since the Bank of England base rate was last changed in March 2009.