At the end of July, Nationwide released a five-year fixed rate mortgage priced at 3.99%, marking the first time the mortgage market has seen a sub-4% deal since February.
At the end of July, Nationwide released a five-year fixed rate mortgage priced at 3.99%, marking the first time the mortgage market has seen a sub-4% deal since February. Other major lenders like HSBC and Halifax have also been gradually reducing the cost of their fixed-rate deals over the past few weeks.
"Nationwide’s sub-4% mortgage marks a significant change in the landscape, signaling better news for borrowers"
Nicholas Mendes, a mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, said: “Nationwide is the first lender to finally breach the 4% benchmark following recent weeks of downward repricing. This is fantastic news for borrowers and signifies a significant change in the mortgage landscape after recent months of increased rates… We will likely see the likes of HSBC look to reprice again to ensure they remain ahead of the pack.”
Our analysis is that the mortgage market as a whole is now pricing in a base rate cut in August and/or September, with lenders looking to promote their most competitive rates and to stimulate the market for new purchases as we move towards the traditionally busy September period.
International property company JLL has said it expects Greater London house prices to increase by 22% over the next 5-years, beating nationwide UK growth predictions of 20% over the same time span. The firm added that within those headline figures, it expected lower value markets to see stronger growth towards the beginning of the period, with more expensive markets like London and the South East outperforming in the second half.
September has seen the fastest annual house price growth in around two years, according to Nationwide’s latest index, with average London house prices hitting £524,685.
The September data from online portal Zoopla showed that UK property sales volumes were at their highest level since pandemic restrictions were lifted in 2020.