One of the UK�s biggest lenders announced yesterday it was cutting its mortgage rates for the second time in two weeks, following a fall in funding costs.
Nicky Burridge
One of the UK's biggest lenders announced yesterday it was cutting its mortgage rates for the second time in two weeks, following a fall in funding costs.
Barclays' lending arm, the Woolwich, is reducing the cost of its fixed-rate deals by up to 0.32%.
The group is the latest in a flurry of lenders to slash their rates following a fall in swap rates, upon which fixed-rate mortgages are based.
Lending giants the Halifax, Nationwide, Abbey and Lloyds TSB's mortgage brand Cheltenham & Gloucester have all cut their rates this month.
The downward trend is good news for hard-pressed borrowers, and suggests that the trend for lenders to repeatedly raise the cost of their mortgages due to the problems caused by the credit crunch may have peaked.
Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said the mortgage market appeared to have stabilised.
