Falling Expat Mortgage Rates Boost the UK Housing Market

Falling Expat Mortgage Rates are encouraging vast swathes of overseas investors to use buy-to-let mortgage deals to invest in the UK.

MANCHESTER, GREATER MANCHESTER, UK, August 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Expats are one of the few groups of buyers in the UK housing market that are still presented with some attractive opportunities for borrowing. This is because expat mortgage rates have been coming down for the last few months, with these cuts leading to renewed optimism amongst UK expat investors.

‘For UK expats, 5-year fixed deals are particularly attractive at the moment, offering great rates for potential investors looking to fix’ says Stuart Marshall, CEO of Liquid Expat Mortgages. ‘However, 2- and 3-year fixed deals are also offering very competitive rates to UK expat investors and might be preferable for those who want to take their chances on rates coming down in the coming years. This is good news for UK expat investors, who have a huge deal of choice in the market at the moment, due to increased numbers of properties coming onto the market and relatively low competition from domestic, residential buyers.’

‘A Good Market for UK Expat Investors.’
‘All of these factors are very positive signs for UK expat and foreign national investors, with declining mortgage rates, and increased availability coming together to create a very attractive investment landscape. It’s a real ‘Goldilocks’ situation at the moment, providing a sweet spot between choice and cost, and this means it’s a great time for UK expat and foreign national investors to get involved in the UK’s property investment market or to expand an existing portfolio.’

‘Things will continue to progress quickly in the UK expat and foreign national mortgage market’ says Stuart Marshall. ‘Base rate reductions are expected to continue so would-be UK expat and foreign national investors should keep a close eye on these developments and how they might affect mortgage rates. However, at the moment, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the UK expat and foreign national mortgage market. This optimism and enthusiasm is evidenced by some of the UK’s biggest banks opening up their international buy-to-let mortgages to UK brokers for the first time. This is a huge move from major high-street lenders and goes to show the strength of UK expats’ and foreign nationals’ positions in the UK investment market. Liquid Expat Mortgages have long worked with specialist lenders to improve the quality and accessibility of UK expat and foreign national mortgage products precisely because we have recognised the unique position these investors are in.’

‘It’s good to see that, because of work like this, UK expat and foreign national investors are now being seen by some of the UK’s biggest lenders. And they have not only opened this product to their 14 existing countries of Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the UAE, USA, Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey. They are also extending the availability of these mortgages to residents of other countries too. It’s not surprising that lenders are wanting to offer a greater number of better-quality products to UK expat and foreign national investors. After all, foreign buyers accounted for 1.4% of all transactions in the UK property market - a 20% rise from the previous 12 months, according to HMRC.’

UK Expat and Foreign National Investor Optimism.
UK expat and foreign national investors are in such a strong investment position at the moment. Competitive fixed rates and lower rate mortgages are really helping these buyers, especially for those with lower LTV mortgages. However, lenders are still offering incredibly competitive deals for investors with smaller deposits, so it’s important to discuss any potential investment with an expert mortgage broker. Because of the opportunities available for UK expat and foreign national investors, 80% of expat lenders expected demand to grow in the coming months, with demand already up 27% compared to the same period last year. And much of this demand is due to optimism surrounding the available mortgage deals in the UK expat and foreign national mortgage market.

The evidence of UK expat and foreign national investors’ optimism is clear from the number of investors searching for UK properties too. The number of searches for UK property by overseas buyers have been growing month-on-month and now account for 11% of all activity in the first 6 months of 2024. This is compared to just 6.8% of activity from the same period three years ago. It’s likely that this is to do with the excellent deals available to overseas buyers via expert brokers, alongside a slight dip in property prices and a weaker pound. The increase in availability is also likely to be a factor for UK expat and foreign national investors. After months and months of low numbers of available properties, Rightmove’s property listings soared with the number of properties listed in January 2024 exceeding the previous record for January by over 23%.

Brokers Shine in a Competitive Market.
It’s clear that the potential in the UK’s buy-to-let investment market is huge at the moment for UK expat and foreign national investors. But what’s also clear is how much specialist mortgage brokers can help the investment prospects for these buyers. Accordingly, the number of expat mortgages which have come through independent specialist mortgage brokers has been rising very quickly in recent years. In fact, 80% of expat mortgages currently come through independent brokers - this is compared to only 62% last year. This is partly due to the complexity of obtaining a mortgage as a UK expat or foreign national, but it’s also due to the deals that these brokers have access to.

Liquid Expat Mortgages
Suite 4b, Link 665 Business Centre,
Todd Hall Rd,
Haslingden, Rossendale
BB4 5HU
Phone: 0161 871 1216
www.liquidexpatmortgages.com

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sergio@ulyssesmarketing.com
+44 161 633 5009

Sergio Pani
Ulysses
+44 7811 326463
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