Halifax, Nationwide, HSBC, Santander and NatWest had all announced recent rate cuts, as mortgage prices appear to be on the way down after hitting 15-year highs last month. Today, Barclays announced it would join the other five market leaders.
Its two-year fixed-rate 85% mortgage will now be priced at 6.96%, down from 6.96%. While its two-year fix with a smaller deposit will drop in price from 7.03% to 6.73%.
Riz Malik, founder and director of R3 Mortgages, said Barclays had been widely expected to bring prices down after its rivals did so.
He said: “We appear to be in the midst of a mortgage rate rollback. We were expecting Barclays to join the other main lenders and reprice last week but better late than never.
“Given the release of significant economic data this week, Barclays’ rate revision might prompt other lenders to reassess and possibly lower their rates further, especially if the market remains favourable.
This is starting off to be another positive week for mortgage borrowers, even for those borrowing at higher loan to values.”
Homeowners and prospective buyers will be closely watching this week’s inflation announcement from the ONS, which is likely to determine whether the current decline in mortgage rates is a trend or a brief blip.
Inflation is widely expected to fall significantly in July, to 6.8%, though the Bank of England’s preferred measure of price rises, core inflation, is projected to edge only slightly down, also to 6.8%.
If both figures come in as expected or lower, mortgage rates may continue to come down. But if they end up higher than projections, it could lead to prices rising again.