Overview
- Halifax cut selected fixed mortgage rates on Tuesday, including up to 0.25 percentage points on remortgages.
- SONIA swap rates, which lenders use to set prices on fixed loans, jumped that day and pushed up funding costs.
- The two-year swap rose 13.2 basis points to 4.338% and the five-year rose 13.6 basis points to 4.313%, a move brokers linked to renewed tensions in the Middle East.
- Brokers said the reductions could be short-lived and reported some lenders withdrew products with little notice, including with under two hours’ warning.
- Advisers urged borrowers with deals ending within six months to lock in a suitable rate now and switch later if a better one appears before completion.