Abbey: Worried homeowners looking for long fixes
Nervous mortgage loans borrowers are seeking to fix their interest repayments for long periods, analysis from Abbey shows.
The lender said yesterday that the number of homeowners that would choose a five year fixed rate loan if they had to remortgage tomorrow has doubled over the past month.
In a sign that concerns over a future housing market downturn are leading homeowners to make more conservative decisions over their loans, 24 per cent now say that they would pick a five year fix.
Around six per cent of potential remortgagers were still more wary, going for a 25 year fixed rate loan.
Director of Abbey Mortgages, Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, commented: "Recent reports about the shrinking mortgage market seem to have had a profound effect on borrowers.
"Not too long ago borrowers felt that shopping around regularly was the way to get the best deal, now homeowners faced with a dwindling number of mortgage deals seem keener then ever to lock themselves into a deal for longer than two years."
According to recent research from Moneysupermarket.com, there are 60 per cent fewer mortgage loans currently available in the UK than at the beginning of the credit crunch last year.
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