Accord Mortgages is set to make several adjustments to its residential new business range, effective from 8am on Wednesday, 13th September. The current product line will be unavailable from 10pm on Tuesday, 12th September.
The rate adjustments will affect products across various loan-to-value (LTV) categories.
Products with an LTV of 75% will see rate cuts of 0.15% to 0.20%. Those with an 80% LTV will experience reductions of 0.15% to 0.25%.
In the 85% LTV category, rates will be reduced by 0.15% to 0.45%. Rates for 90% LTV products will be cut by 0.06% to 0.23%.
The 95% LTV products will either be reduced by up to 0.23% or increased by up to 0.12%.
Additionally, some products will be withdrawn from the range altogether. There will be no changes to tracker rates.
News wire Newspage canvassed brokers for their opinions. Here’s what they had to say.
Elliott Culley, director at Switch Mortgage Finance:
“Swap rates have been reducing recently, which is good news across the board. I think we will see more lenders reduce this week.
“The reductions will still be tentative in my opinion, as the economic outlook remains fragile. If the positive trends continue, we will see more lenders returning to the high 4% rates for low loan-to-value cases in the not-too-distant future.
“This will be for 5-year fixed rates initially, but it would be a positive milestone to hit.”
Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages:
“These are some substantial changes to the Accord range, which is particularly helpful for those who have a small deposit, with reductions of up to 0.45% suggesting that the outlook on rates is looking more positive by the day.
“Most lenders are grouping around similar pricing points on both short- and long-term fixed deals. The question is how long, now, before we drop below 5% on a 5-year fixed deal?”
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages:
“The mortgage rate avalanche continues to gain momentum as Accord announces another round of reductions. Hopefully, the Bank of England will pause on its rate increases later this month in line with what has been hinted at by Andrew Bailey.”
Ranald Mitchell, director at Charwin Private Clients:
“This is great news on the rate reductions, particularly on the higher loan-to-value deals. Lower deposit mortgages are key to boosting the stalling first-time buyer market and making the rates on these increasingly attractive is great news. With the demise of Help-to-Buy, 95% LTV mortgages are key to both upsizers and first-time buyers.”
Samuel Mather-Holgate, independent financial advisor at Mather and Murray Financial:
“Reducing rates in the higher loan-to-value area of their product offering suggests Accord are confident there won’t be too much of a housing crash.
“Their crystal ball must be malfunctioning as higher rates will cause undue chaos if they stay there much longer and the housing market is highly likely to be hit for six. I don’t expect these rates to hang around for long.”
