The Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report showed that nearly 350 deals came back to the market in May, giving a total of 7,132 options.
Borrowers in need of high-loan-to-value (LTV) deals saw the biggest improvement, as the product count rose from 436 to 466 at 95% LTV from May to June. The number of deals available at 90% LTV rose by 20 to 891, while 19 options were added at the 60% LTV tier to total 810.
The average shelf life of a mortgage shortened slightly from 16 days last month to 15 days this month, which Moneyfacts put down to lenders repricing deals to keep up with changing swap rates.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “The mortgage market has shown countless times how it can recover after periods of turmoil, and once again, product choice is slowly on the road to recovery. It has now been three months since the conflict in the Middle East began, which sent a shockwave of uncertainty across the markets. These events completely flipped the expected path of interest rate setting for 2026 and spooked lenders into pulling mortgage deals from sale.
“Thankfully, the volatility surrounding swap rates has eased somewhat and the average shelf-life of a mortgage deal now stands at 15 days, on par with a month prior and a much more reasonable length compared to just eight days back at the start of April. The calming product churn will no doubt delight borrowers, brokers and lenders who are trying to keep abreast of latest deals to hit the market.”
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Mortgage pricing improves
Average rates fell across all LTVs too, as the typical two-year fixed rate dropped from 5.78% in May to 5.68% this month. There was a smaller change in the average five-year fixed rate, which declined from 5.68% to 5.63%.
This was the second month in a row that average rates eased.
At 95% LTV, the average rate of a two-year fix fell from 6.33% to 6.23% and the average five-year fix decreased from 6.06% to 6.02%. The typical two-year fixed rate at 90% LTV fell from 6.05% to 5.94% and the average five-year fix from 5.87% to 5.73%.
At 60% LTV, the average pricing of a two-year fix fell from 5.28% to 5.17%, and the typical five-year fix dropped from 5.35% to 5.29%.
The average standard variable rate (SVR) stayed static at 7.13%, and despite the base rate hold, the typical two-year tracker fell from 4.61% in May to 4.48% in June.
The Moneyfacts average mortgage rate stood at 5.59% in June. This takes all rates into account, including fixed, variable and tracker deals. It was lower than the rate of 5.66% in May but still above the rate at the start of March, which was 4.9%.
Springall said: “Fixed rates dropped for a consecutive month, with the average two-year fixed rate seeing its biggest monthly drop in over a year of 0.1%. However, as the future path of interest rates remains unclear, it is somewhat unsurprising to see fixed rate mortgage pricing displaying mixed moves, as the average five-year fixed deal only fell by 0.05%.
“The two- and five-year fixed mortgage rates have been inverted for three months, with the five-year priced under the two-year. Significant volatility in interest rates caused by more global events over the shorter term can choke the mortgage market, as UK homeowners would traditionally pick a two- or five-year fixed deal, unlike those in other countries.”
