Mortgages - some good news?

Michelle Slade, spokeswoman for financial information group Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: We are seeing a bit more competition back in the market as lenders want to do more lending.
They are trying to kick-start the remortgage market. Many people are on low SVRs and have no reason to move.
But despite the recent decline in mortgage rates, the cost of home loans still remains high compared with the Bank of England Base rate and swap rates.
Melanie Bien, of mortgage brokers Private Finance, said: Lenders are keen to entice borrowers off their cheap standard variable rates by offering increasingly competitive mortgage rates, which make them better profits. Yet while these mortgage rates are attractive, the best deals are still only available for those with significant equity in their homes, of 40 or even 50 per cent. The vast majority of those remortgaging will have much less equity, and therefore find it more difficult, to access a market-leading rate.

The latest mortgage index from John Charcol reveals that borrowers making enquiries about remortgaging spiked by 42% in October.

Commenting, Drew Wotherspoon, director of marketing at John Charcol, said: "October's actual mortgage figures showed a broadly even spilt between purchases and remortgaging for new cases.
“However, the real interest lies in the amount of enquiries to John Charcol in October. In September we had 600 new remortgage enquiries, but this figure rose to 855 in October, a significant increase of 42% month on
on month. This tells us that people are finally considering their options and are no longer content to simply sit on their lender's Standard Variable Rate (SVR).

And even more good news -

There has been a 22% increase in the number of products available for first-time buyers since the start of this year, according to moneysupermarket.com.
Clare Francis, site editor of moneysupermarket.com, said: "It's encouraging to see the number of mortgages available for those with reasonably small deposits increasing, but there is still a premium on rates for loans available up to 90% discouraging many first-time buyers. The best rates are still only available to those with large deposits - you need at least 25% and in some cases 40% to qualify and this is pricing many out of the market.
"First-time buyers are integral to keeping the housing market moving - if there aren't enough people jumping on at the bottom the market will eventually grind to a halt. A shortage of first-time buyers is evident around the country with many people struggling to sell their properties. Unless more lenders start offering 90% mortgages at affordable rates, it is difficult to see how this will be resolved. Increased competition would also help to push rates down, bringing the cost of mortgages available at high LTVs closer to the market-leading deals.
"Despite Base Rate having been left on hold at 0.5% again this month, an increasing number of economists believe interest rates will start rising sooner rather than later. Anyone thinking of buying for the first time may therefore be better off acting sooner rather than later as mortgages rates are likely to go up too. The housing market is also fairly subdued at the moment as the build up to Christmas starts, so it could be a good time to buy as sellers may be more than willing to negotiate on price."

Very good news, if the lenders are getting more interested in lending again there is a good possibility we will start to see more people coming onto the market and therefore bringing new life to the housing market within the UK. Plus if the lenders are showing confidence within the market it will hopefully spread.