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Hope as Abbey cuts rate
Abbey have given hope to home owners
Posted: 2008/05/16
HOME owners got the best news for months yesterday when the second major lender in a week cut its mortgage rates.
The Abbey - the UK's third biggest bank - slashed the cost of a home loan by 0.05 per cent on all flexible and tracker mortgages.
It also trimmed 0.17 per cent off fixed rate deals for those with a 25 per cent deposit.
The Nationwide - the biggest building society - led the way on Tuesday with similar cuts. At the same time, HSBC extended its ratematcher deal, which offers interest as low as 4.55 per cent.
The ratematcher is open to new and existing customers coming off a fixed-rate mortgage and can be secured for a period of one, two, three or five years.
The moves prompted hopes that the credit crunch was beginning to ease and that fresh money in the banking system could free up the stagnating housing market.
Property analysts last night called on other lenders to follow and offer cheaper deals.
Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder. com, said: "This is certainly a step in the right direction."
