1. Market Commentary
2. Is it Time to Ditch Your Tracker?
3. What’s New at Mortgage Medics?

Market Commentary

In our January newsletter I wrote about BIG CUTS to fixed rate mortgage pricing and combined with lots of new property coming to market this resulted in a busy January with lots of sales being agreed.  This momentum has carried through into February with plenty of activity still in the property market.The price of fixed rate mortgages seems to have settled for now, with many lenders making a slight correction upwards to their rates in the last couple of weeks.  That said, the best 5 year fixed rates are currently around 4% and the best 2 year fixed rates just a little higher at around 4.3%.  Compared to the 6%+ rates we saw in the Summer of 2023 this makes a huge difference and it feels as though we’re finally operating in a ‘normal’ market again after 15 months of instability after the Truss/Kwarteng era in late 2022.

If your current mortgage deal is ending in the next 6 months I’d recommend getting in touch now to discuss your options, if you’ve not already done so.  Whilst rates now are higher than 2 years ago, the increases most borrowers will face are more manageable and our advice is generally to secure something now and see how interest rates change over the coming months.  We offer a free rate monitoring service as part of our mortgage review, so we’ll always make sure you get the best deal by the time your new mortgage deal is due to start.  In some cases we’ve improved a product 5 or 6 times from the original application, saving thousands of pounds over the next couple of years.

Is it Time to Ditch Your Tracker?

We recently wrote an article asking “Does a variable mortgage make sense if interest rates have peaked?” and the short answer is it depends at what rate you can get on a fixed rate vs a tracker, discounted or other variable product.  At the moment the best variable rate products are priced around 1%-1.5% higher than the best fixed rates, so taking a variable rate product is quite a gamble as there is no guarantee rates will fall that much, that quickly, to make you better off over a typical product period of 2 years.  Plus with the security and instant savings (compared to the alternatives) available with a fixed rate, for most borrowers fixed is still the way to go.

But what if you’ve already got a tracker or other variable rate product?  Well our advice is take advice.  Many variable rate products carry no penalty for breaking out early and the gap that has recently opened up between variable and fixed products means that for some, the time has come to switch to a fixed rate.  Talk to us and we’ll help you explore your options.

What’s new at Mortgage Medics?

It’s been anniversary season lately:

• Jonathan Smith recently celebrated 6 years at Mortgage Medics as well as a birthday – Happy Birthday Jonathan!
• Michael Curd celebrated 8 years at Mortgage Medics at the end of January
• Undray Griffith celebrated 6 years at Mortgage Medics at the start of January

I hope your 2024 has got off to the very best of starts.  If you’re thinking of moving this year, or your existing mortgage deal is ending in the next 6 months, get in touch and let us help you explore your options and make a plan.

Sam & the Mortgage Medics team.