First time buyers - the future is looking good!

Good news for first time buyers.

Mortgage rates are at a historically low level, having almost halved during the last decade, according to Moneyfacts – the Financial Services news and updates publication.

Back in March 2009, The Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.5 per cent in an attempt to bring stability to the UK economy following the global financial crisis.

Ten years ago the average two year fixed rate mortgage stood at 4.79%. That is almost twice the average two year fixed rate of 2.49% available today.

Equally, the average five-year fixed rate has fallen from 5.62% to 2.69% over the same period.

Moneyfacts said the figures confirmed there are strong competitive forces driving the market to attract new borrowers and this is good news for all of those considering a home move or a remortgage.

And this also means particularly good news for first time buyers.

The substantial fall in interest rates over the last decade has coincided with enhanced product availability at most loan to value levels – LTV. The number of LTV products now available at 95% has increased exponentially by 130 times to reach current levels of over 390.

The combination of lower interest rates and more attractive loan to value ratios is good news for first time buyers looking to make their way onto the property ladder.

However, it’s not just good news for first time buyers. Home movers with 40% equity or those with deposits at that level stand to benefit by the increased number of mortgages available by almost twice with 588 products available today compared to 272 ten years ago.

With historically low fixed interest rates and increased loan to value products available there has hardly ever been a better time to consider your home purchase options.