Mortgage Rates Hold Steady in US, UK Homeowners Brace for Increase

As US 30-year mortgage rates hold at 7.17%, UK homeowners face a £19bn rise in costs due to expiring fixed-rate deals, despite expected rate cuts by the Bank of England.

30-year mortgage rates in the US have remained steady for a second day, with the average rate reaching 7.17%, a quarter point above the 7-month low hit last week.
Rates on other mortgage types have seen mixed movement, with the biggest changes being a 14-basis-point drop for jumbo 7/6 adjustable-rate loans and a 13-basis-point increase for the standard 10/6 ARM average.
In the UK, homeowners are facing a £19bn increase in mortgage costs as millions of fixed-rate deals expire, forcing borrowers to renegotiate their home loans.
The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates to below 4% by the end of the year from the current level of 5.25%, triggering a bidding war among lenders to improve their mortgage offers.
Despite recent rate cuts in the mortgage market, about 1.6 million existing borrowers in the UK with expiring fixed-rate deals still face a significant increase in interest payments when they switch onto a new product.