Mortgage seekers 'must be prepared to take risks'

Date:Tuesday 28th July 2009
Author: Susanna Kavka

People seeking mortgage deals must be prepared to take risks, an expert has said.

According to Darren Cook, head of mortgages at Moneyfacts.co.uk, current market conditions mean that selecting a home loan could be about "taking a gamble".

He stated: "Economists are expecting the base rate to stay at 0.5 per cent until the middle of next year and if that's the case then people can look at a tracker rate mortgage."

Mr Cook went on to say that fixed-rate products are "quite expensive" at the moment as lenders are anticipating that the UK's base rate of interest will rise.

The expert added: "As soon as we see the base rate heading upwards, the fixed rate will follow suit."

He made his comments in the wake of figures released by John Charcol, which suggested that the number of mortgage-seekers selecting fixed-rate loans reached a high last month.

According to the broker, 83 per cent of loans agreed in June were fixed-rate products.