Happy New Year my lovely customers! I hope you had a happy, relaxing and fun festive season. I can’t believe how fast it’s gone! We had a lovely time just at home with Cruz watching him play (with the boxes not the toys lol).
Before I get on to the serious stuff I just wanted to thank you all for your support and custom. I became a mum in November 2022 and had absolutely no maternity leave. The hardest time was during his open heart surgery in March when I was juggling keying mortgage apps while sitting next to him in intensive care. Running a small business comes with its pros and cons. The cons are there is no support, maternity leave or sick pay during the hard times so I just had to push through during a economic/mortgage crisis too. Every single one of you that still trusted me to handle your cases even when I was a bit slower, who still referred me knowing I was a bit distracted - I can't express how much I appreciate it. Every single penny counted last year and you really helped me. As Cruz gets bigger it's a lot easier and normal service has resumed. Thank you for sticking by me, as I stick by you, through every stage of life. It just so happened that 2023 was my 10 year business anniversary as well. My clients are the best and make it the most amazing job in the world so thank you once again. And please do keep referring me! It's hard to find new mortgage business at the moment so send me all your friends and family when you can.
50% LTV Remortgage Rates
2 year fixed 4.69%
5 year fixed 4.14%
2 year tracker 5.75%
It’s early January and I’m already getting lots and lots of mortgage questions. It’s been a long few years if you’ve had thoughts of buying or moving and been holding off for ‘better times’. It’s been like some kind of comedy show that isn’t very funny with each year unexpectedly twisting and turning quite dramatically for prospective buyers. I’ve got first time buyers who have been technically ready since 2020 but put off by the endless stream of bad news we’ve had. I’m in the same situation myself! I need a family home ASAP. My house has been on the market for a year and I don’t even get viewings anymore. Keeping it and renting it out isn’t very attractive with interest rates as they are. I’d be leaving a good chunk of money behind for just a couple of hundred pounds of potential rental profit if that. It’s a very frustrating time. But I do really think the pent up buying potential has to give soon. I can’t see the talk of a big property crash coming to fruition. Prices have decreased for sure but I don’t think they will dramatically – not to a level worth putting off buying for.
The first email in my inbox on Tuesday was “Lender kicks off mortgage rate war in bold statement”. I’ve said it to you before and I’ll say it again – the lenders have money to lend. They need business. The end of last year particularly was very quiet. They will start pushing each other down to try and stay the cheapest lender to win the bigger chunk of new business. Sub 4% is going to come back very very quickly. There are a couple of headline rates dipping in to the 3% territory already but beware the fees. They’re not the cheapest deals. Remortgage rates have been a little bit slower to catch up to this but as lenders start to see customers leaving for better priced deals else where they should start to follow suit. All week lenders have been cutting rates quite substantially.
Bearing the above in mind, it’s also worth noting that rates aren’t going to go very far down for a long time. It’s good things are coming down a bit but I don’t want to leave you thinking that they’re going to tumble all the way back to 1.5% and that you should wait. My educated guess is they will push in to the 3% bracket but won’t push far in to the 2% bracket for a long time to come so the bottom of the drop is not too far away.
Leasehold flats have been taking a hammering this last year. There are no first time buyers, no buy to let landlords looking to buy and those that do want flats want outside space. The entry level property market has been HORRIBLE for sellers – there just isn’t any one to sell the flats to! However, that may be about to change. Firstly, I think first time buyers that have been waiting will get be able to look with a bit more confidence this year. If that describes you this is a good time for you to start looking. There wasn’t much stock on the market last year but hopefully people will try again now – Spring is usually the busiest time of the year for property. If you’re ready to buy you should see more stock coming to market and be able to negotiate a good deal plus prices have come down a bit. The big news is the leasehold law reforms that are going to change this year. This will make a huge difference for flats which are typically held on lease and stimulate the market a lot, make flats a lot more attractive and push prices up . This is one area to keep a close eye on and will definitely have a big impact on the property market.
An email from a local estate agent I just received stated that rightmove had 84% more visits than normal over Christmas and estate agent contact levels had risen 17% higher than this time last year. This is a good indicator of what’s to come! Overall I think the worst is over. There may be some ups and downs but I don’t think there will be extremes. Hopefully we can look forward to some recovery and stability this year. If your mortgage product is up between now and July contact me now. If you’re thinking about buying or moving any time this year again get in touch and we can ran through all the numbers so you’re prepared. This news letters definitely is no where near weekly news any more but I will keep sending out updates at important times to keep you prepared throughout 2024. Happy New Year once again!
As always I’m here to help so be ahead of the game and get in contact with me to check all your facts and figures early so you’re prepared for any mortgage payment changes. I know I haven’t been consistent with sending this update but I will send it as and when I feel something is pertinent. Feel free to forward on to others. If you want to discuss any aspect of mortgage stuff book in with me here https://calendly.com/sarahcruze/30min
If you don’t want to be included in this list please do let me know and equally if you have friends or family who would benefit from the updates send me their email address and I will add them! And don't forget I can also help you with wills, life insurance, equity release, lasting power of attorney, buildings and contents insurance and much much more!