when is halifax going to do some decent mortgage rates?

the_root_of_all_evil

when is halifax going to do some decent mortgage rates?

it used to offer the best deals around but now they are really poor, i can only remortgage with them but atm they so uncompetitive!

opinions4u

Has it crossed your mind that HBOS was a massive victim in the credit crunch.

This means that their wholesale funding has been significantly impacted and they have less money to lend.

So what money they do lend should have a wider profit margin on it.

They are probably actively trying to reduce the number of mortgages that they have on their books.

beecher

Depends on your LTV - I'm quite happy with the deal I fixed up with them. As far as I can recall, they didn't offer different rates for different LTVs in the past so we all got offered the same deals, which is probably why they seem uncompetitive to some now

Greenr

i know this may be a crystal ball question but are halifax likely to reduce their fixed rates in the near future or raise them?

beecher

The ones for existing customers which I've been keeping track of have been increased slightly, as of Friday.

opinions4u

Given the direction of fixed savings rates, I'd say the market is currently moving upwards a little.

Greenr

beecher wrote: »

The ones for existing customers which I've been keeping track of have been increased slightly, as of Friday.

great... I had a valuation carried out over two weeks ago. The surveyors said that they informed halifax of the value of our property the same day. About 5 phone calls later to halifax and approx 2 weeks later, halifax finally said that they'd recieved the information. because of this delay, the rates have gone up so can't fix on such a good deal.

beecher

Greenr wrote: »

great... I had a valuation carried out over two weeks ago. The surveyors said that they informed halifax of the value of our property the same day. About 5 phone calls later to halifax and approx 2 weeks later, halifax finally said that they'd recieved the information. because of this delay, the rates have gone up so can't fix on such a good deal.

I only know about the deals for existing customers coming to the end of their deal who have an LTV of below 60%. If your circumstances are different, the rates might not have gone up.

Greenr

I've just had a look and the deals I was looking at have now increased....

beecher

Greenr wrote: »

I've just had a look and the deals I was looking at have now increased....

That's bad luck. Hadn't you booked the previous deal you saw, or were you not allowed to do so pre valuation?

ckp1975

Yes I noticed that they had also put up their rates. Luckily I had managed to get onto one of their 5 year fixed rate products before this, starting in July this year.

As far as I can tell, Halifax's system wouldn't have been able to allow their staff to book a product for a customer until they have all the necessary info in front of them, including valuation report.

I also think that the fixed market is starting to bottom out, and even with QE my feeling is that the banks are not going to fully pass on any potential cuts to rates to their borrowers. After the end of the good times, they are all trying to find ways to make money....

Even if they offer a good rate, the stringent LTV criteria, together with decreasing valuations is going to stuff most borrowers.