The British economy is on the mend but many nations are not in the same position.  Some are even facing a possible recession, which is the case for Germany, the largest economy in Europe.  Such global economic woes are having an impact on the economic growth of the UK.  While the UK is sitting better than most, it does come at a price that the UK has slowed in its effort of recovery.

House prices had begun to rise and homeowners were finally watching their equity grow rather than shrink.  The growth was so rapid that many feared it was the beginning of a housing market bubble.  However, whether it was the state of economic slowdown or that buyers walked away from rising prices waiting to return another day is debatable.  The impact the slowdown has had on the fears of economists is not.  With the slowdown has come a quieting of the warnings of impending interest rate increases.

At one time, only months prior, it was thought an increase by the Bank of England to the standard base interest rate could come by the end of the year.  Then as the housing market began to show signs of cooling the warnings extended the timeframe for an increase to the beginning of 2015.  Now, some forecast it will be in spring or early summer of 2015 when the historically low 0.5% standard base rate will disappear.

The lack of demand from homeowners and home buyers in mortgage lending at the cusp of a possible increase in the interest rate kept many experts scratching their head.  Competition therefore increased amoung lenders as borrowers stayed away and the result was low interest rates on remortgage and mortgage purchase deals in the midst of interest rate increase warnings.

The overall result is that there are homeowners with more equity on their properties and sitting on an opportunity to be on the advantageous side of lending with lenders competing to offer them the best deal.  This doesn’t mean that the current state of things will remain for long.  Lenders could begin to pull their cheapest deals any day.  For those that have been considering a new remortgage deal or a new home purchase mortgage, shopping around now could be a smart choice to make.