by Gary Webber
11. August 2009 14:29
...and who could blame them?
Paragon Mortgages has just released figures showing that nearly 7 in 10 mortgages submitted through mortgage advisers in April, May and June this year were for fixed-rate deals.
This is the biggest proportion of fixed rate mortgages since Paragon started surveying the market in 1996.
The most popular fixed-rate mortgage term was 2 years. Meanwhile, tracker mortgages fell to only 26% of applications.
We're not surprised, as trackers don't look so appealing when the rate can only really go up from here. Get stuck on a tracker now, paying 2-3% over base, and you could be a bit bothered were rates to take a jump upwards.
However, Paragon MD John Heron says it might not be just because of that sort of common sense. When the base rate was on its way down, lenders pulled their trackers to stop everyone jumping on the bandwagon, so applicants were funnelled towards the fixes. (When trackers re-emerged, of course they had a lot more margin built in).
Fixed-rate mortgages are still looking low if you've got enough deposit, and August is a good time to get accepted while the 'queue' is shorter than usual.