Mortgage rate disparity has increased, says moneysupermarket.com

Date:Thursday 20th August 2009
Author: Max Freedman

The difference between the highest and lowest average mortgage rates on offer has gone up in over the past year, according to moneysupermarket.com.

In a survey of mortgage lenders, the price comparison site found that there was a variation of 2.5 per cent between the top and bottom rates, compared to only a 0.93 per cent difference last year.

Hannah Skenfield, mortgage channel manager at moneysupermarket.com, commented that even though the base rate of interest has fallen by 4.5 per cent since last August, not all lenders were dropping their rates by the same amount as each other.

She said: "Despite this low-rate environment, there is a significant disparity in the amount of this saving being passed on to mortgage borrowers by the main UK lenders."

The highest average rate recorded on offer in August 2009 was 6.42 per cent from Northern Rock, while the lowest was from first direct at 3.92 per cent.

Previous research by moneysupermarket.com showed that the average interest rate of the top five savings accounts is now 2.61 per cent higher than the base rate.