A recent surge in swap rates, which affects the cost of mortgage funding for lenders, is expected to start filtering through to mortgage costs.
A lender this week told Mortgage Solutions that providers usually have enough funding to hang on for two or three weeks before they are forced to move – or accept lower margins.
It is now a case of each provider waiting to see who makes the first move.
In the past week, there have already been signs that lenders are opting to quietly pull some of their most competitive deals from the market.
Halifax, Nationwide, the Post Office and Tesco Bank are among the lenders that have repriced.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “With the Bank of England hinting at another interest rate rise sooner than the markets previously thought, perhaps as early as May, Swap rates have risen and pressure will be on lenders to edge up the pricing of fixed-rate mortgages accordingly.”
Charlotte Nelson from Moneyfacts.co.uk, added: “The talk of multiple base rate rises this year has started to become more than just gossip, with swap rates starting to rise again.
“The two-year swap rate increased by 0.15% in just one month, which is particularly significant, as this was an early sign of the base rate rise that occurred last November.”
However, not all rates have increased.
Barclays has snipped select rates, while Nationwide has also launched a competitive buy-to-let deal.
