Reflecting on October, we have seen colder temperatures taking hold and Storm Barbet raging across the UK. The storm in the UK mortgage market however, appears to have calmed.
SWAP rates appear to have stabilised, with 2-year SWAPs remaining around 5.1% and 5-year close to 4.7%. Average fixed mortgage rates have cooled for 11 consecutive weeks, with the average 5-year fixed rates being 5.43%, down from 6.08%.
House prices have also cooled in current market conditions. According to Rightmove, UK house prices rose by 0.5% month-on month in October, the smallest average increase for this time of year since 2008.
Here at Kensington we reduced many of our standard rates, with Select rates for purchase and remortgage now starting from 5.94%, and we introduced a number of Special Rates designed to provide more options for your broker partners.
At Kensington we’ve seen a higher demand for our BTL products over the past few months, in particular, for HMO and MUBs. With a recent industry survey* revealing 32% of landlords plan to buy a property in the next 12 months, it may be worth reminding your brokers that we can lend up to 80% LTV for both purchase and remortgage with no minimum income requirements.
Last month, our underwriters offered 51 cases in less than 72 hours from the date of their submission, and this month, Kensington has celebrated 21 months of consistent day 1 underwriting on all new applications and documentation. We continue to support your brokers and provide a minimum of 48 hours’ notice on all standard product withdrawals, maximising the time available for brokers to place their case.
We also continue to bring hot topics to your broker partners with our webinar content, and as we read more and more about how technology, particularly AI is transforming the mortgage process, we’re looking forward to looking at this subject in more detail at our November webinar ‘Tools and Technology to Tackle 2024’. We will be joined by the CEO of Koodoo to talk to us about the future of AI in our industry, as well as other expert guests to educate us on tools to support business in 2024. Places for this session are filling fast, so please share with your broker partners if they want to secure their place and earn 60 minutes CPD. Here’s the register link for you share with your team and brokers.