Mortgage update - February 2011

This is the first of OliverFinn's regular monthly round up of the mortgage market. The mortgage market has seen plenty of movement in interest rates as lenders position themselves for expected Bank of England rate rises. Halifax has reduced its fixed rate mortgages to become market leading at both 60% and 75% loan to value. This is a good sign (that in the right circumstances) the big lenders are still prepared to lend. This also puts Halifax back into the mix with their main competitor, Santander. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has confirmed that mortgage lending for January was down 13% on December but up 5% on Jan 2010. This was the first year-on-year increase since August 2010 and shows that despite plenty of uncertainty in the economy, sales are going through - again, in the right circumstances. There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about how to get first time buyers (FTBs) on to the housing ladder. With banks restricting high loan to value products, there has been more call for mortgage indemnity insurance. This would allow lenders the additional security to lend to first time buyers knowing that they have covered themselves in the event that repayment becomes a problem. We will see more discussion on this subject in the coming weeks and it may be a solution that could help FTBs. Latest mortgage deals How much can you can realistically afford to spend on a property? Mortgage calculator shows your monthly repayment options.