Article DetailsForeign buyers support London property recovery whereas Abbey raises its mortgage rates |
| Date Added: June 26, 2009 07:39:53 AM |
| Author: Jessica Jones |
| Category: |
| According to property consultants Cluttons at the moment foreign buyers are y making the majority of all property purchases in top London locations like Knightsbridge, Hyde Park and Chelsea. As the foreign buyers are making considerable savings on the currency exchange, they are prepared to pay a premium to secure the property they want, even though the prices have held firm in these traditionally upmarket areas. Many foreign buyers still view London as one of the most desirable places in the world to own property despite the down turn, according to James Hyman at Residential Sales. James Hyman explains that these foreign buyers are only after the traditional prime locations of London which have limited stock and little new development prospects, resulting in a strong level of demand in these areas. In these parts of London prices have rarely fallen in the last two years. Most of the owners of these properties are unaffected by the employment market or mortgage market. They have owned these properties for some time and have not needed to sell. The foreign buyers are in a position to hold out until the market picks up. The foreign interest is now reaching new heights and prices are close to 2007 levels. On the mortgage front both Abbey and Alliance and Leicester have changed their fixed and tracker rate mortgages with increases of 0.3% and 0.5 % Abbey is offering a three-year fixed rate deal at 4.99%, two-year fixed-rate deal at 4.39% for remortgages of upto 75% LTV. Also, Abbey for Intermediaries has launched a two-year fixed rate deal at 3.98% up to 70% LTV. Alliance & Leicester Intermediary Sales have launched a two-year fixed rate mortgage deal at 4.39% and a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 5.74% for remortgage only. The rise in fixed rate deals is primarily due to the rise in swap rates. According to Ricky Okey who is the managing director of Abbey and Alliance and Leicester Intermediaries sales, has said: “Swap rates have risen dramatically in recent weeks and we have been absorbing the cost of such rate increases as a business. He further adds that we have largely been able to protect borrowers from the impact of rising swap rates by holding the vast majority of our fixed rate mortgages. However, due to further swap rate increases and competitor movements, this is no longer viable and it has become necessary to increase the rates on some of the deals we offer.” For tracker mortgage rates Alliance and Leicester Intermediaries Sales have reduced their two-year tracker rates by up to 0.30%, and Abbey for Intermediaries has reduced its two year tracker rates by 0.20% to 3.29%. The commercial mortgage rates should also increase inline with the above. “Anyone who wants to have an affordable mortgage in the current situation should see these reduced tracker mortgages as a great opportunity to make the most of the current low interest rates. Even if the Bank of England ends up raising the Bank Base Rate in the longer term these mortgages still offer fantastic value for money” Says Okey Jessica Jones is author of this article on Commercial Mortgage. Find more information about Mortgage Rates here. |
