Hundreds of residential deals pulled in two days as swap rates rise
The average cost of fixed-rate residential borrowing has pushed beyond 5%, alongside a sharp reduction in product availability, Moneyfacts has reported.
The price comparison site said its average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate rose to 5.01% today, March 11, from 4.84% just five days ago. It is the highest recorded since Aug. 6 2025, when the rate stood at 5.01%.
The average five-year fixed rate increased to 5.09% from 4.96% over the same period, reaching its highest level since June 26, 2025. The overall average Moneyfacts mortgage rate opened at 5.04% today, up from 4.91% on March 6, and is at its highest since Aug. 7, 2025.
Alongside the move in pricing, Moneyfacts reported a steep contraction in the number of residential deals on offer. Over the past 48 hours, 472 products were withdrawn, which it said represented about 6.5% of the market. The total number of available residential mortgage products was put at 7,164.
Moneyfacts described the fall as the largest reduction in product numbers since the period after the September 2022 mini-Budget. It also referenced the biggest one-day drop on record, when 935 residential products were withdrawn on Sept. 27, 2022, accounting for just over a quarter of the market at that time.
“Recent days have been some of the most turbulent in the UK mortgage market since the aftermath of the September 2022 mini-Budget,” said Adam French (pictured right), head of consumer finance at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk. “In the last 48 hours, almost 500 residential mortgage products have been withdrawn as lenders reacted to rapidly rising swap rates.
“However, the scale is nowhere near the shock seen in late September 2022 when 935 products, which accounted for more than a quarter of the market at the time, disappeared in a single day.
Still, the ongoing spike in mortgage rates, French noted, is “unwelcome news for borrowers, as the prospect of falling mortgage rates has quickly given way to rate rises.”
“How far they could go is now heavily dependent on how global markets and inflation expectations evolve as conflict in the Middle East unfolds,” he added.
French believes many of the recently withdrawn mortgage deals are likely to return within the next few days and weeks as lenders adjust their pricing to higher rate expectations.
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