For the first time in over a month, the Best-Execution rate for 30yr fixed mortgages rose from a rounded average of 3.875% to 4.00% today.  The underlying borrowing costs associated with 3.875% didn’t rise by a significantly painful amount, but the small increases across the board, combined with one huge move by a huge lender, was enough to bring the average rate closer to 4.0% than 3.875%.

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The deal Co-operative Bank is offering a five year fixed rate mortgage at 3.39 per cent.

The good points You can’t get a lower five year fixed rate at the moment. The nearest is and offering from Yorkshire building society at 3.59 per cent.

The bad points To qualify you’ll need to have a current account with the Co-op as well as a deposit of at least 25 per cent. If you have only a 15 per cent deposit, the rate climbs to 4.24 per cent. The application fee is steep at 999.

Conclusion The Co-op is currently offering 200 if you switch current accounts to it so, combined with this offer, that could be a powerful inducement. How

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There was some good news this week for mortgage customers with only a small margin of equity or a small deposit at their disposal as Barclays, through its mortgage arm Woolwich, launched some new 90 per cent LTV mortgages.

Being able to afford monthly mortgage repayments has not been an issue for potential homebuyers with interest rates at such competitive levels, but having to find a deposit of 15 or 20 per cent has proved nigh on impossible for many consumers.

It’s good to see one of the UK’s largest lenders supporting the first-time buyer market with these new products which are available for home movers or remortgages,but understandably not for debt consolidation.

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Kiwibank has announced a 30 month mortgage rate special of 5.99% p.a.

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