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Average two and five-year mortgage rates double since December

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Written by: Anna Sagar
04/10/2022
The rate for an average two and five-year fixed has doubled since December, with both increasing by nearly 1% over the last week alone.

The average two-year fixed rate stands at 5.75%, while the five-year deal comes in at 5.48%, according to Moneyfacts figures.

This compares to Monday last week, when the average two-year fixed rate came to 4.75% and the average five-year fixed rate was estimated at 4.76%.

And it is a big leap from the average figures in December 2021 when two-year fixed rate deals were priced at 2.34% while the average five-year fixed rate was 2.64%.

Moneyfacts figures also revealed lenders have taken the axe to mortgage products with the total residential mortgage count standing at 2,262, a fall of 1,218 since last week.

This includes a record fall of 935 products between 27 September and 28 September, which is more than double the previous record fall of 462 on 1 April 2020.

The mortgage market has been very volatile over the past week as several mortgage lenders briefly paused new business lending, pulled and repriced their new business fixed rate deals.

This was due to uncertainty in the financial markets following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini Budget, which included several tax cuts, that led to a falling pound and soaring swap rates which made it harder for lenders to price their products.

Swap rates skyrocketing

Fixed rates are often closely linked to swap rates – the rate at which mortgage lenders can borrow money. Swap rates have been increasing dramatically, with two-year Sonia swaps standing at 5.02% and five-year Sonia swaps coming to 4.74%. This compares to 3.75% for a two-year swap and 3.27% for a five-year swap at the end of August this year.

It is also up from 0.51% for two-year swap and 0.75% of a five-year swap at the end of September last year.

Sources said normal variations in swap rates were between five to 10 basis points but following the mini Budget rises have been between 100 to 150 basis points over the course of a few days.

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