Mehrdad Yousefi, head of intermediary Mortgages at Alliance & Leicester suspected the reason for no movement in rates this month was the fall in the US dollar and the unexpected downturn in manufacturing statistics.
He said: “As expected, the Bank has maintained interest rates at 5 per cent, even though the UK economy has been very buoyant, with strong activity particularly evident in the housing market despite the recent rate rises.”
However, Yousefi added: “Most commentators still believe there is a likelihood of an interest rate rise sometime in early 2007.”
Colin Bell, operations director at InterBay, added: “Commercial property owners will welcome the decision to make no change to Base Rate this month.
“Although property prices are still rising, consumer spending is down on this time last year, so keeping rates on an even keel in the short-term means no additional pressure for commercial owners and small businesses in the retail sector.”
