‘We’ll look at a new deal if it saves us £171 a month’

Homeowners might be expected to stick with their existing mortgage deals while interest rates are low – but new research says that more homeowners are considering remortgaging this year and would be willing to do so for a monthly average saving of £171.
Household financeHousehold finance
Household finance

And more than a quarter (27 per cent) of homeowners would consider remortgaging for any saving at all.

The research from Lloyds TSB found one in five homeowners feel that 2013 could be a good time to consider remortgaging and more than a quarter expect there will be some good remortgage deals on the market over the next few months.

Three in ten homeowners agree that they could find a better interest rate if they remortgaged their property, while a fifth feel that remortgaging their property could save them a significant amount of money each month.

However, the research showed that there are still a significant number of homeowners that prefer to remain on their current mortgage deal (68 per cent).

Of those who aren’t considering remortgaging, almost a third feel that they are on a low enough interest rate already or that the costs associated would be so high that they may not save money overall.

One in six of those who are not currently considering remortgaging are holding off the decision to see whether mortgage rates will fall further.

Perhaps most interestingly, the research shows that over half of people are unaware that standard variable interest rates for mortgages have actually been higher than fixed interest rates for more than a year.

In fact, fixed rate mortgages have fallen by 125 basis points since March 2009, and the average SVR at 4.83 per cent is currently 0.68 per cent more expensive than the average fixed rate of 3.7 per cent, meaning many borrowers would now benefit from remortgaging.

Lloyds TSP mortgage director Marc Page said: “Standard variable rate mortgages have been at historically low levels for quite some time, so it is no surprise that many homeowners haven’t considered moving from them.

“But with fixed rate mortgages falling, and some good deals expected on the market this year, now is the time for borrowers to consider the benefits of remortgaging.”

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