Mortgage lender Avant Money has reduced its long-term fixed mortgage rates, which it says will give borrowers “more options” to protect themselves against further interest rate increases by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The rates for its One Mortgage product, under which the interest rate is fixed for the full life of the loan, are to fall by 0.35 of a percentage point. The One Mortgage rates now start at 3.95 per cent and rise to 4.1 per cent, with the lower rates offered to borrowers whose loans are a smaller percentage of their property’s value.
The rates for Avant Money‘s three-to-five-year fixed term mortgages, however, will increase by an average of 0.3 of a percentage point, with the lowest such rate starting at 3.6 per cent.
The ECB has raised interest rates seven times since July 2022. While the pace of hikes has slowed in recent months, the central bank’s president Christine Lagarde indicated earlier this month that it was “not pausing” in its battle to bring down inflation, suggesting at least one and likely two quarter-point increases are still to come.
In its bid to capture the business of borrowers switching from other lenders, Avant Money – part of Spanish banking group Bankinter – has introduced a new €1,500 legal fees incentive to cover the costs of transferring the loan.
