Twenty straight weeks of small but important rate drops

Since the peak in July, the average five year fixed mortgage rate has reduced from 6.11 to 5.07 per cent while the average two-year rate has reduced from 6.61 to 5.48 per cent.

The average five-year fixed, 85 per cent Loan-To-Value mortgage has reduced from 6.16 per cent at the peak in July, to 5.16 per cent now.

The means that for someone taking out this type of mortgage, the monthly mortgage payment on an average home has reduced from £2,068 in July, to £1,793 now. And for first-time buyers taking out this type of mortgage, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical first-time buyer home has reduced from £1,254 in July, to £1,111 now.

Other key stats include the average five-year fixed mortgage rate now at 5.07 per cent, down from 5.30% a year ago; and the average two-year fixed mortgage rate now at 5.48 per cent, down from 5.55 per cent a year ago.

The average 85 per cent LTV five-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.16 per cent, down from 5.34 per cent a year ago; and the average 60 per cent LTV five-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.46 per cent, down from 4.98 per cent a year ago.

The average monthly mortgage payment on a typical first-time buyer type property when taking out an average five-year fixed, 85 per cent LTV mortgage, is now £1,111 per month, down from £1,139 per month a year ago 

Matt Smith, mortgage expert at Rightmove - which sourced these figures - says: “No news is often good news when it comes to the mortgage market, and yet another week – the 20th in a row – of marginal percentage point drops is positive news for home-movers. 

“Swap rates have also remained steady this week, but fell further on the back of the UK GDP data published today: a good indicator that the markets are confident about how tomorrow’s Base Rate announcement will play out.

“After the chunky drop in inflation was announced in mid-November, it looked even more likely that tomorrow will bring a third consecutive Base Rate hold. And while these pauses come off the back of falling inflation and a more positive economic outlook, the Bank has indicated that we’re unlikely to see any Base Rate drops until we’re well into 2024. However, markets are currently forecasting that the first Base Rate reduction may arrive in late Spring next year.”