Mortgage News
Mortgage applications rise by 34% at Countrywide
Activity at Countrywide Mortgage Services rose in February, with the number of mortgage applications to its mortgage consultants increasing by 34% on last month.
Countrywide’s monthly mortgage report showed that customers are opting for bigger deposits, which are now 22% on average – 3% up on January.
Applications for tracker mortgages faltered for the first time since April 2009. February saw a 4% increase in applications for fixed-rate mortgages compared to January 2010.
The average interest rate of its applications for February fell to 4.52%, a 0.26% fall compared to January.
Overall, 90% of mortgage applications made in February 2010 were for two and three year products – an increase of 1% from January 2010 but a 26% increase on February 2009.
Grenville Turner, group chief executive of Countrywide, said it was encouraging to see the average interest rate of the most popular products fall as customers gathered up larger deposits.
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He added: “This shows more commitment from major lenders to competitively price their products and provide the best rates for those with the biggest deposits.
We may also be seeing a return of home movers entering the market as larger deposits typically come from home movers using the equity from their property to fund their move.”