At any given time there are homeowners facing the end of their mortgage deal. When the term on their mortgage ends they have choices, one is to take action and get a remortgage and the other is to do nothing and allow their lender to move them to their standard variable rate (SVR). Not too long ago moving to a SVR wouldn’t have been so bad as they were attached to relatively low interest rates. That is no longer the case as some SVRs are double the rate of a homeowner’s mortgage interest rate if they mortgaged two or more years ago.

The housing market is revealing a new type of home buyer. While first time buyers are still a rarity, though demand from them has picked up recently, there is an increase in home buyers looking for a second property. Whether it is an investment, a buy to let, or a holiday second home, it has become more of a norm and less of something only reserved for the extra wealthy or high end property investors.

Home sellers are finding the housing market favorable to their goals. Despite the postponement of Brexit and the uncertainty that is said to be holding back home buyers and other consumers, there has been an uptick to property purchases. That is motivating home sellers. Rightmove reported the average price of property coming on to the market was £309,348. This is just shy of the June 2018 record high reported of £309,439.

Homeowners are still interested in remortgaging despite the drop in demand. It doesn’t mean that all that could remortgage have done so. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t great deals to be had. It does mean that there are those that have skipped a remortgage and could most likely be paying more than they should have to pay.

Homeowners are encouraged to take advantage of the current opportunities in remortgaging. There are savings to be found. There are fixed rates that can protect against rising rates in the years ahead, of which there are warnings. There is the opportunity to get peace of mind in the uncertainty of Brexit. Also, there is the option of a homeowner turning their built up equity into cash with a remortgage.

The opportunities with remortgaging, especially when facing a lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) without one, are many yet homeowners seem to be slowing down on taking action. Remortgaging had been strong as borrowers could nab a low interest rate, long term fixed rates to escape rising rates for years to come, and in some cases nice incentives. According to UK Finance, remortgaging by homeowners declined by 3.1% in comparison to April 2018.