Many lenders failed to pass on rate cut

According to figures, eighteen of the 103 mortgage lenders failed to pass on any of last month’s interest rate cut, while sixteen reduced their rates by less than the full 0.25%.  However, many banks and building societies have taken the opportunity of the interest rate cut to reduce their savings by more than the 0.25% reduction in base rates. A total of 117 providers have so far cut their savings rates, with just 15 leaving them unchanged.  Alliance & Leicester has made the biggest reductions to its savings by slashing rates by up to 0.5%, while HSBC has reduced some accounts by up to 0.49%.  Britain’s biggest mortgage lender Halifax and Bradford & Bingley have both cut rates paid to savers by up to 0.4%, while a number of banks and building societies, including Britannia, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, Yorkshire Bank and Sainsbury’s have decreased them by 0.3%.  Will another rate cut mean banks carry on cheating customers even more?

House prices to stagnate in 2008

Britain’s number one mortgage lender, the Halifax is predicting that the property market will stagnate in 2008 even if the Bank of England cuts the base rate to 5%.  This is good news for home owners in comparison to other predictions of falls of 10 to 15 percent next year.  But not so good for people still struggling to get on the property ladder.  A report for the global finance monitor said that house prices in the UK have soared in relation to incomes and now stands at about 9x annual average earnings.  Up from about 5x in 2001.

Future looks bright for buy-to-let

There is a lot of doom and gloom about the property market at the moment and will probably continue for a while.  But this is good news!  It means that it is a buyers’ market and should be taken advantage of – only if you can bag yourself a bargain.  Even Halifax bank have started marketing their first ever buy-to-let mortgages.  Surely this must be a sign?  With students and immigrants who cannot afford to buy and those waiting till they are more certain about the condition of the property market, now is the time to find the right property at the right price.  Do your homework before making any commitments and read the 10 tips for buy-to-let.