First-time buyer mortgage rates drop to 2019 prices

Mortgage deals for first-time buyers are now cheaper than before the pandemic. Younger buyers with small deposits were largely locked out of the market last year as lenders pushed up prices for riskier borrowers. But lenders are now competing for their business to hit their annual targets. Mark Harris, of the mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: "Greater competition, in what is still an underserved segment of the market, has forced down pricing on small deposit mortgages." The average two-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 5% deposit is now 3.13%, according to Moneyfacts, down from November last year, when it was 4.74%, and lower than the 3.27% it was in the same month in 2019. It is also the case for longer deals. A five-year fix for first-time buyers with a 5% deposit charges 3.41% on average, lower than the 4.21% in 2019. 

The Daily Telegraph (27/11/2021)