Best Mortgage Direct – 0845 194 7102

Halifax is introducing a new Homeowner Variable Rate for new customers from January 4 next year.
The rate will only apply to new Halifax mortgages and will be 3.99% an incease of 0.5%.
There is no change for existing Halifax mortgages which will remain at 3.50%.

The rate is not  directly linked to Bank of England base rate nor does it have a cap.
New customers taking a new product from January 4 2011 will not revert to the new Halifax Homeowner Variable Rate before 2013.
When new mortgages revert to the Halifax Homeowner Variable Rate at the end of the initial product period customers can switch to a new product without paying an early repayment charge and make unlimited overpayments, subject to eligibility.
Customers with existing mortgages will revert to the existing SVR when their deal expires. Any customer taking out a further advance or product transfer will do so under the new Halifax Homeowner Variable Rate. The new rate will then only apply to the amount being transferred or the additional amount being borrowed.
Halifax says the new policy is being implemented in the light of market conditions.
It says the cost of funding a mortgage deal in today’s market is substantially higher than the longer term average. The new rate reflects the ongoing higher cost of funding, in both the wholesale and the retail markets, and acknowledges that lenders must consider a number of factors when pricing a mortgage deal, including capital costs.
It says pricing deals to more appropriately reflect the cost of funding mortgages will enable Halifax to continue to offer a competitive and innovative range of products.
Stephen Noakes, commercial director of mortgages, Lloyds Banking Group, says: “In light of market conditions, particularly ongoing higher funding costs, we have introduced this new rate for new mortgages. This increased cost of funding is reflected in this new rate, whilst remaining competitive for borrowers.
“Customers will not revert to the new rate before January 2013, at the earliest. Introducing the Halifax Homeowner Variable Rate will enable us to continue to offer a wide range of competitive products.”

Mortgage Lenders have told BBC news they do not see any significant recovery in mortgage lending in 2011.
Banks and building societies also warned that a new process for vetting new customers for mortgages could “cement in place restricted… lending”.
The Financial Services Authority is proposing new rules that would mean the responsibility for assessing whether a borrower can afford a mortgage ultimately lies with the lender.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has already described the proposed new measures as “flawed and impractical”, suggesting that they could result in “a range of negative, unintended outcomes”.
Meanwhile first-time buyers continue to get frozen out of the market due to the lack ok high LTV mortgages available and house prices have been dropping as the number of homes for sale increases and consumer confidence wanes.
CML figures show gross mortgage lending standing still in October, at an estimated £12.4 billion (unchanged from September but down 9% from a year earlier) and Rightmove has reported that November sellers cut their asking prices by 3.2%.
The biggest monthly drop since December 2007 followed a mysterious rise in asking prices in October, when the property portal concluded that sellers were struggling to adjust to new market conditions.

Northern Rock is cut its mortgage rates by up to 0.60% from today. until February next year.

Their Everyday residential two-year fixed rates for purchase will now start from 2.88% up to 70% LTV, previously 3.09%.
While its Everyday two-year trackers for purchase start from 2.59% up to 70% LTV, previously 2.89%.

Everyday mortgages allow customers  up to 10% overpayments each year, as well as the option to apply for payment holidays.
Rates for those with smaller deposits have also been cut, with Everyday two-year fixed rates for purchase customers with a 85% LTV available from just 4.38% with a £995 product fee, previously 4.89%, and Everyday two-year fixed rates for purchase customers with a 20% deposit 80% LTV available from 3.98%, previously 4.39%.

UK house prices will continue to increase moderately by up to 5% in 2011 but problems still remain. We believe that London property price growth is at risk from the strengthening pound and housing allowance caps.
New housing supply will continue to be poor as developers struggle to build, according to Assetz, with rents to accelerate further, even in city centres, underpinning values with strong rental yields.
It also believes that increased competition in mortgage lending will continue and lead to better LTVs and rates for new borrowers in Q1 2011.

Commenting, Stuart Law, chief executive of Assetz, said: “The outlook for house prices in 2011 is set to end the year with positive annual growth for the second year running which we forecast after fairly balancing the negative and positive factors driving the market.
The only negative year for house prices in the past decade was 2007 with 12% falls recorded in what was close to financial Armageddon for the western world. During 2011 there is likely to be modest further growth in house prices and the UK could end the year with an overall 5% increase although many risks remain.
There is still very little to suggest that a double dip to new lows, predicted by many commentators, will come to fruition in 2011.
We correctly forecast last year, Government pressure on lenders to reduce margins and increase lending, as well as good old-fashioned competition saw 2010 deliver our forecast improvements in loan terms for new borrowers. Nonetheless mortgage availability remains poor for those without a significant deposit or without a perfect credit history and mortgage lending remains, without doubt, the most significant negative factor for 2011.
We do expect new loan products to enter the market in 2011 permitting higher loan-to-values than were available this year with 90% mortgages making a comeback to a limited degree.
Another significant potential market risk is the FSA’s mortgage market review and its suggestions that interest-only mortgages should effectively be banned.
“The effect of such a policy and its increase in household outgoings for repayment mortgages would be very severe on the UK housing market. If this was implemented, despite extreme levels of objections from the industry, it could become the most significant negative factor in the market and all of the positive factors together may well struggle to maintain overall positive house price growth.

House prices in October were 2.3% down than at the end of 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis, reveal Halifax

The rate of house price growth has turned pretty moderate recently. The rate of decline, however, is significantly lower than the quarterly rate of decline of -5% to -6% during the second half of 2008.

House prices are higher than last year. Prices in October were 1.2% higher on an annual basis as measured by the average for the latest three months against the same period a year earlier. This continues the recent downward trend from a high of 6.9% in May.

House prices in October were 6.6% higher than in April 2009. Despite the recent downturn, prices remain above the trough reached in spring 2009. The average price is now £164,919; £10,256 higher than in April 2009.

Housing market activity is softening. Bank of England industry-wide figures show that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase – a leading indicator of completed house sales – fell for the fifth consecutive month in September. The number of approvals in Quarter 3 was 3% lower than in Quarter 2.