House prices in the UK, according to the latest report from Halifax, showed an increase of 2.4% over the latest quarter to June, but there was a decrease of 0.3% from May to June. The average UK house price is now at £237,110. The housing market continues to show resilience in the months leading up to the second attempt at Brexit, and homeowners are taking advantage of the opportunity to convert their built up equity into cash.

Homeowners that have their current mortgage deal end without remortgaging are moved to their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). For some, they could be facing an interest rate on a SVR that is double or more what they were used to paying. Afterwards, when a remortgage is desired, some homeowners will go to remortgage and find out they do not qualify. They are then considered to be prisoners to their mortgage with no option to take on a remortgage and gain the benefits of possible savings or a fixed rate for peace of mind against rising rates.

Homeowners are finding that remortgaging can offer peace of mind against the uncertainty of Brexit. Should interest rates be hiked by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), homeowners with a remortgage could escape having to pay more on their repayments. The good news is that lenders, though perhaps less competitive than a few months ago, are still trying to get the attention of borrowers and are offering attractive deals.

According to the latest report on the British housing market, house prices grew by the fastest annual rate since the beginning of the year in 2017. In the three months leading up to the end of May, house prices grew by 5.2% in comparison to the same period last year. This comes behind another surprising growth for the three months leading up to the end of April of 5.0%. These figures have come as a surprise to most experts.

The fact that remortgages are popular with homeowners is given to many factors, however a new report by Zoola might better explain it by showing that UK homeowners are more likely to stay put rather than move home. The average across UK that homeowners stay in a home is 20.8 years. In the areas of Kensington and Chelsea, in fact in most of London, homeowners stay put for much longer for an average of 35.5 years. 

British house prices did not pull any top impressions in May. There was growth, but nothing to brag about. House prices increased compared with the same time last year by 0.5%. This followed a 0.6% level of growth from April. In the month to month comparison, therefore, the increase was merely 0.1%. Nationwide data may have shown weak growth, but growth in the shadow of Brexit is still something to be surprised at according to some experts.