Hopeful signs? A price war or ‘repricing frenzy’ amongst mortgage providers shows that the prognosis for interest rates is downward, and that they now need the business. If you’re one of the NatWest chairman’s first-time buyers, the pause in house price rises should make it still easier to get on the ladder; while if you’re already on and moving up or down, it’s a pain, as you must either compromise or stay put. Falling rates should provide something of a window for both but really, did we all expect house prices to just continue to go up and up? They can’t, and neither, in a normal and reasonably controlled economy, can interest rates. A happy medium? Who knows.
“40-year mortgages now ‘commonplace’”
When I was but a youth, I was often told to enjoy myself before I had the ‘millstone of a mortgage around my neck’. It was then assumed that you’d be dragged down by it for another 25 years, a lifetime when you’re but 25 yourself.
