Fixed ends May 08

magnatom

Hi,

I was lucky enough to have a great fix rate for the last five years of 4.59% on a mortgage of £123,000.

Obviously I have been watching the rates recently as my fix is due to end in May next year. I assume I should sit tight until early next year before making any decisions on changing mortgage. However, I was wondering if anyone has any idea (yes I realise that it is speculative) about the medium term (6 months) likely position of the mortgage market. Is it possible in that time scale that mortgages could be substantially cheaper (and yes more expensive), or are we likely to be in a similar situation to now. Could the latest lending crisis have been resolved by then, or is it looking like it will go longer term.

Thanks for any advice and opinions.

cm233lh

Mortgage rates can go down as well as up. Something about wage inflation in today's news - could be upward pressure. Abbey put up their tracker margins today. Bank of England didn't put up rates as expected, so that's downward pressure.

Seven years ago I took out a fix at 6.39%. That was a good rate. 9 months later the WTC was attacked and rates dropped to historic lows. You just never know what's going to happen.

magnatom

Absolutely! I just wondered if there any educated opinions out there, i.e. what would you do in my shoes?

Jonesya

magnatom wrote: »

Absolutely! I just wondered if there any educated opinions out there, i.e. what would you do in my shoes?

Predicting the future course of interest rates/markets is very difficult, if not impossible. If it were me I'd be looking over my finances and calculating the maximum I could afford to spend on the mortgage and what interest rate that would be equivalent to, see what the gap between that and current rates is and then take it from there.

Gorgeous_George

It's always good to overpay and reduce your exposure to risk.

Look for promotion/additional hours at work.

Reduce financial waste.

Be prepared.

IRs? No idea.

GG