The market fall-out from the EU referendum vote could mean even cheaper mortgages ahead. Fixed rate deals could fall further still following the Brexit vote, according to brokers John Charcol.

Meanwhile seven in ten house-hunters would consider fixing their mortgage for 10 years as a way of providing certainty on financial outgoings, according to new research commissioned by HSBC. That could rise even higher as rates stay pressed to the floor.

Ray Boulger at Charcol says: “Uncertainty over economic activity and indicators will probably extend for at least the minimum two-year period during which our exit negotiations will take place.”

He adds: “The Bank of England base rate and other short-term interest rates are unlikely to change much, simply because they are already close to zero. A fall in gilt yields will reduce the cost for lenders of longer term funding and hence open the door for even cheaper fixed rate mortgages.”

But homebuyers need to crunch the numbers when it comes to spectacularly low interest rate offers. The latest from HSBC is the first “below one per cent” mortgage, a 0.99per cent fixed rate over two years.

Turn to the small print and you will find it is only available on 65per cent loan to value, and with a fee of £1499.

Andrew Hagger at Moneycomms.co.uk says: “ Some of the marketing departments of the banks and building societies adopt the same clever advertising tricks as the big supermarkets when it comes to attracting consumers through their doors.”

A £1499 on a loan lasting only two years effective adds over £62 a month to the cost, on top of your mortgage payment, Hagger points out.

“Whether this deal is as good as it looks will depend on the size of your mortgage – if you’re borrowing £220,000 or more then it makes financial sense but for smaller sums there are cheaper alternatives.

“For example if you only needed £150,000 then if you opted for the two-year fix from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society at 1.49per cent with a much smaller £195 fee – over the course of two years it works out £464 cheaper than the HSBC 0.99per cent offer. That’s a saving equivalent to £19.33 per month.”

There has also been a retreat by lenders from cashback offers, which had been a feature of many first-time buyer deals.

Charlotte Nelson at Moneyfacts.co.uk says: “Cashback is often targeted towards the higher loan-to-values (LTV), which means that borrowers with tight budgets have been the hardest hit by their decline in value. For instance, the average cash rebate that is offered to borrowers with a 10pe cent or 15per cent deposit (90per cent and 95per cent LTV) has fallen by £208 over the course of one year, almost putting the figure back to 2013 levels.

“Savvy borrowers can still hunt down deals that offer cashback of up to £1,500. However, borrowers need to assess the whole mortgage deal to ensure that it’s suitable for them, and if they do get a deal offering a cash rebate, they will need to find out whether the money will be paid before or after the deal is completed.”

According to Moneyfacts figures, mutual building societies dominate the ‘best buy’ table with cheaper two and five year fixed rates than banks across all LTV mortgages. Nationwide, Skipton and Yorkshire are among the mutuals to have been cutting rates to ultra-low levels in recent weeks.

Nelson says: “Due to bigger banks taking greater advantage of the government’s Funding for Lending Scheme to fund their mortgage books, many would assume that mortgage rates from these providers would be significantly lower than those offered by the rest of the market. However, our research shows building societies are actually the undeniable winners when it comes to mortgage deals.”

But advice is recommended to compare deals properly. Yorkshire Building Society for instance has a two-year fix at 1.14 per cent (for 65per cent LTV) but with a fee of £1,345, almost as high as HSBC’s. But there is also a fee-free version of the mortgage at 1.89 per cent, which comes with a choice of free standard valuation and legal fees or cashback incentives.

Meanwhile house prices in the west of Scotland have rallied over the past three months with the overall average rising by 3.1per cent over the year to the end of June 2016, according to the latest findings from the GSPC.

Professor Gwilym Pryce from Sheffield University, who analysed the GSPC’s sales data, said: “Prices are now more than double what they were at the start of 1991 when the GSPC index began. However, they remain nine per cent below their peak during the height of the boom in 2007.”

He added: “But the outlook for house prices will be somewhat uncertain given the unfolding political and economic ramifications of Brexit.”