It will reduce rates of selected two-, three-, and five-year fixes at up to 90% LTV
HSBC has announced new rate reductions across its residential mortgage product ranges, with the lowered rates available from tomorrow, September 5.
On the lender’s existing residential customer switching or borrowing more range, selected five-year fixed rates at up to 75% loan-to-value (LTV) will be reduced.
For the residential first-time buyers or home movers, rates of selected two-, three-, and five-year fixes from 60% to 90% LTV will also be cut.
Also getting rates cuts are residential remortgage products – selected two-, three-, and five-year fixes from 60% to 85% LTV.
News agency Newspage sought the views of brokers, who consider the latest HSBC move as “another step in the right direction.”
“It’s great to see big banks like HSBC continue to review their mortgage rates,” remarked Lee Gathercole, co-founder of Rebus Financial Services. “HSBC is probably one of the best banks when it comes to this. It will be welcome news for current homeowners and first-time buyers. Hopefully other lenders will take a leaf out of HSBC’s book.”
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, commented that with rate reductions “coming thick and fast”, brokers were left feeling like they were “watching a tennis match from the net-side.”
“Further reductions from HSBC will set off another round of reductions from other lenders, which is all great news for borrowers,” he added.
For Elliott Benson, owner and mortgage broker at Sett Mortgages, the lenders’ rate cuts may indeed go on for quite a while, with some brokers arguing whether a mortgage rate war had already begun.
“Lenders want the business, and I think this is going to continue for the foreseeable future,” Benson said. “The difficulty, at the moment, is I don’t think it has caught on yet that fixed rates are steadily reducing. Given the focus on base rate increases, the general assumption among the public is that fixed rates are increasing too.”
Swap rates – a determinant of mortgage rates – have been edging downwards in recent weeks, pulling down two- and five-year fixed rates from above-6% levels in June and July.
See the latest HSBC mortgage rates in the UK at the link. Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
