To remortgage a house with a competitive deal may require a high level of equity.
For those home-owners wanting to remortgage their house this year, it will be difficult to find a good deal unless they have a high level of equity. Deals for those borrowers whose equity has fallen will be far less competitive. Without adequate equity lenders will not offer their best remortgage rates and for some, a good re-mortgage deal will be almost impossible to find.
A countrywide fall in property prices has meant that many UK home-owners have seen their equity levels drop dramatically. Some have even had the misfortune to fall into negative equity.
Property demand from new buyers has also decreased and so more home-owners are finding themselves stuck and unable to move. Increasingly more home-owners, who find they cannot move, are considering remortgage house loans as a means to extend their property and improve the quality of their life.
First-time buyers have struggled the most since the credit crisis, the high deposit levels demanded by lenders has made it impossible for many young people to get on the first rung of the property ladder. Where once there were many 95 per cent loan to value mortgages on offer, now there are perhaps a handful which often require borrowers to have an almost perfect credit score.
Home-owners will need to be on high alert in 2012 when considering remortgage house loans. Lenders are predicted to become more far more cautious this year which will mean there will be fewer re-mortgage products available to choose from.
