Since the UK introduced a nation-wide lockdown on the 16th March 2020, there have been many conversations happening across the property sector in regard to what the future actually looks like within the COVID-19 context.
While some people have been extremely worried, there has been an equal amount of people who are optimistic about the months and years to come. Historically, the property market has always managed to pull through whatever challenge is thrown at it. Although there are ongoing circumstances to take into consideration, a slow but steady recovery is in the works. House prices are now to be at an all-time high, with mortgage applications also at a 12-year high according to Halifax. It’s safe to say that many people expected the opposite to occur.
As well as this, in September, house prices across the country increased by 1.6% since the previous month, pushing annual growth to 7.3%. Things are looking positive for the market – and with data like this comes a soaring interest in mortgage rates and their availability.
New discoveries around mortgage rates
When an influx of changes happen on an economic level, there often comes a lot of questions. Mansons has discovered some Google Trends data and found that queries around mortgage rates seemed to be a hot topic of conversation in the UK. For example, ‘lowest mortgage rates’ was a search that increased by an astounding 350 per cent since the start of lockdown.
This was no surprise, with the Bank of England’s most recent Credit Conditions survey revealing that lenders have been tightening their credit scoring criteria for mortgage borrowers and are expected to do so for the final quarter of the year. Are people struggling to find the perfect lender for them?
This could be true, as the report goes on to detail that those with less than a 10 per cent deposit of the purchase price might find it extremely difficult to obtain credit during this period. The reality of the situation is that although the state of the market is looking up, lenders will have to be remain cautious as the economic landscape changes more frequently than ever known before. If you’re looking to break into the property market, or buy your first home, it’s crucial to understand your own situation and what position you might be in when it comes to obtaining the right mortgage rate for you.
We work closley with a Newcastle based firm of financial advisers called Giraffe Financial who have help our clients both regionally and nationally.
