The senior technical manager of John Charcoal found it somewhat interesting that in June there was a high rate of clients that chose a fixed rate over other rates available on the market. According to him there was an 83.1% of them that chose the fixed rate.

According to Ray Boulger, we expect 83.1% will prove to be the peak for fixed rates for the foreseeable future because after the sharp increase in fixed-rate pricing over the last few weeks, compared with little change in tracker rates, the relative attraction of fixed rates and trackers has moved towards trackers unless one expects interest rates to start increasing rapidly before 2011.”

He also said that the vast majority of these client were choosing this rate because of the security that it offers, especially on those loans with higher LTVs (Loan To Value) amounts. He continued by saying, “We are recommending trackers to more clients this month, with the focus on low or no early repayment charges (ERCs) as well as the obvious requirements of a good rate and fee combination and possibly an offset facility. The reason the size of the ERC is important, unless the mortgage offers a droplock option, is that many clients will want to consider switching to a fix when the time is right for them."

According to research, there was no change in the number of first-time buyers involved and remortgage activity took up to 50% of the total business.