The Bank of England has announced that the average mortgage interest rate for buyers throughout England has fallen to 3.43 per cent in the three months since June. The average rate for new mortgages has also fallen from 3.65 per cent to 3.47 per cent.

Though this is great news for borrowers, a warning that rates have already started to creep up again since the figures were announced is being sounded by many, something which may mean that the era of all-time low mortgages may soon be coming to an end.

The latest figures from the Bank of England have come just days after statistics showed that property values in the market are rising at their fastest rate for three years.

Additionally, the total value of new mortgages in the second quarter of the year rose by 23 per cent from the first three months of the year to £41.6 billion.

The total value of the loans given to first-time buyers has risen by 31 per cent year on year, reaching a staggering £8 billion in the second quarter, and the number of borrowers falling behind on payments has dropped dramatically by 12 per cent since the first three months of this year.

Data from around 300 mortgage lenders and administrators from across the UK is used when compiling the figures. The Bank has only been collecting the data since 2007, so it’s quite a new thing, but industry experts said average rates had never been lower.

A series of reports has shown a burst of activity in the housing market, especially since the launch of Government schemes such as ‘Funding for Lending’ and ‘Help to Buy’, which combined have increased the availability of loans and started a price war among many lenders.

Ironically, the findings were released on the same day that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that 40 per cent of surveyors saw house prices rise rather than fall in July, the highest amount recorded in almost seven years.

Post courtesy of The Telegraph.