Normal service in the mortgage market has resumed with Nationwide increasing a number of its rates, brokers have said.
Switch Mortgage Finance director, Eliott Culley, said: “Normal service has been resumed as the fragile and unpredictable interest rates start to trend upwards rather than down."
Culley’s comments follow an announcement from Nationwide that, from today (February 13), it would increase selected fixed and tracker rates by up to 0.25 percentage points.
Culley said this shows that, as quickly as rates start rising, “they can equally start reducing”.
However, he pointed out rates are still predicted to fall over 2024 and so “there is no need to hit the panic button just yet”.
Shaw Financial Services owner and mortgage expert, Lewis Shaw, said: “It was inevitable that many of the sub-4 per cent products would vanish from the market as swap rates continued to rise.”
He added it wouldn’t surprise him to see a few more lenders pull market leading rates this week, as “they’ll now be under the cosh with service levels while trying to keep an eye on their profit margins”.
Confusion
While Nationwide’s announcement did not come as a surprise to Lawson Financial director, Michelle Lawson, she did state that it came with “an element of confusion to the general public” due to Santander announcing mortgage rate reductions on the same day.
Lawson said the bank may be expecting a bank base rate decrease due to the increase in their tracker margins, although noting they have been low and competitive for a long time now.
Mortgageshop.com financial adviser, Gary Bush, also expected some uncertainty due to the two rate announcements: “It’s head-wobbling that some UK High Street lenders are decreasing their fixed mortgage rates and others are increasing.”
A similar sentiment was shared by The Mortgage Stop director, Rohit Kohil, stating the twin announcements show “just how topsy turvey the mortgage market is”.
Kohil also provided advice to borrowers, stating that the rate changes demonstrate to consumers who’s mortgage is coming to an end to “be prepared to act quickly as no one can be certain as to what is going to happen to lenders’ rates at the moment”.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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