Even though we are deep into holiday season, a traditionally quiet period for mortgage sales, the first two weeks of August were the busiest HSBC has experienced so far this year with enquiries increasing by over 250 per cent. The good news for applicants is that HSBC is continuing to approve a mortgage for 4 in every 5 customers that apply.
The lifetime tracker, currently the lowest in the market at just 1.69% over the Bank of England base rate, could be withdrawn at anytime, but will definitely be removed from sale by September 5th 2010.
Latest Council of Mortgage Lenders data shows that more than half of new mortgage sales are still variable rate mortgages, even though it's highly unlikely interest rates will fall any further. With no interest rate increases on the horizon, many borrowers are taking advantage of the incredibly low tracker rates.
Martijn van der Heijden, HSBC's head of mortgages said:
"This low rate low fee Tracker mortgage has captured the interest of a huge number of customers. We have extended the offer to enable as many customers as possible to get it. The low costs together with no tie-ins has proved a real winner, borrowers can take advantage of the low rate now and once base rates start to rise, switch into a fixed rate with no exit or redemption charges."
