Open Market

GO re-mortgage shopping in the open market. Now you know what your current lender can offer you need to see if anyone else can beat it. And with more than 8,500 mortgages from over 100 lenders to choose from it’s likely that someone can. Newspaper best-buy charts are worth looking at, though the internet is likely to be more comprehensive. What you need to look at are independent sites that list and rank every lender in the market. One of my favourites is at www.moneyfacts.co.uk though I also look at www.moneysupermarket.com and the mortgage sections of several of the main newspapers’ sites. The Daily Mail’s www.thisismoney.co.uk or www.timesonline.co.uk are normally worth a look.

Remortgaging 'more popular'

Remortgaging is on the rise in Britain, according to new data released today.

A study by Money extra reveals that May saw a jump in remortgaging in the UK, with the average remortgage now standing at £122,541.

This figure is 7.19 per cent higher than one year ago, the company states, suggesting that the increase is due to two factors - people looking for a new deal after the end of their initial introductory rate and others looking to release equity in their property to use towards other debts.

Robin Amlot, senior editor of Money extra, commented on the trend, saying: "Recent reports from the retail sector, including disappointing sales growth figures from both Tesco and Sainsbury, would suggest that we're not spending this money on goods and services but using it to reduce other debts."

However, he cautioned people on using this approach of transferring "expensive credit card debt and overdrafts into long-term low-interest-rate mortgage debt".

Although it is "one way of reducing immediate monthly outgoings", this technique could result in more interest paid in the long run, he remarked.

In addition to the increase in remortgaging, the research showed that average property prices are continuing to rise, as are mortgage values.

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