Interest on fixed-rate mortgage deals "still extremely high"

Date:Monday 28th September 2009
Author: Max Freedman

Interest on fixed-rate mortgage deals is "still extremely high" and this is affecting how many people want them, according to an industry expert.

Peter Cowell, mortgage broker at Click n go Mortgages, made his comments following the news from the John Charcol Monthly Mortgage Index that only 41.9 per cent of borrowers chose to take a fixed-rate rather than a variable one in August.

He noted that people see how much lower variable-rate and tracker deals are and decide that they are the best option at the moment.

Mr Cowell remarked that lenders are not passing on the discounts they are receiving from lower money market borrowing rates.

"Libor rate has come down again to a very low figure and lenders really aren't reducing their fixed rates. They are still extremely high," he said.

On September 25th, the three-month sterling Libor rate stood at 0.55125, according to figures from the British Banking Association.