Average mortgage rate rises above 6% for five-year fixed deals
The average mortgage rate for a five-year fixed deal has risen to 6.01%, according to a financial information company.
Meanwhile, the average two-year fixed rate mortgage has increased to 6.47%, Moneyfacts said.
The previous average for a five-year rate was 5.97% on Monday, while the two-year deal was 6.42%.
A five-year fixed deal is at a high not seen since 21 November – as the market reeled from Liz Truss government’s botched mini budget.
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The average rate for a two-year fix went over 6% about two weeks ago.
Such rates are a marked increase from the years of ultra low interest rates. Less than two years ago, in October 2021, the average rate on a five year deal was 2.55%.
The majority of mortgage holders are on fixed rate deals, 2.4 million of which will expire from now to the end of 2024, UK Finance, the banking industry trade body has said.
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Mortgage rates have been rising significantly since May when inflation data showed the rate of price rises was not coming down as quickly as expected.
That led markets to expect the Bank of England would raise the base rate interest rate higher than previously thought, in its efforts to bring inflation down to 2%.
Lenders priced the expected rise in to the mortgages they had on the market, meaning people are being offered higher mortgage rates when their existing fixed rate mortgage ends.
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The current Bank of England base interest rate was hiked to a shock 5% last month in the wake of the stubbornly high inflation data.
Another hike, bringing the rate to 5.5%, is forecast to come on 3 August, when the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets.
The monetary policy maker has been progressively raising interest rates – making borrowing more expensive – to dampen economic activity and slow down the rate of price rises.
The consumer price index measure of inflation stood at 8.7% in the year up to May.
When asked if he was concerned about the five year rate hitting 6%, a spokesperson for the prime minister said, “We recognise that this is a very difficult time for mortgage holders and indeed renters as well.
“Government needs to work with the Bank of England to reduce inflation, which is driving some of these higher mortgage rates that we are seeing – in the short term there is specific support available to mortgage holders.”
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