MANY Islanders are rushing to lock in fixed-rate mortgages amid global financial uncertainty triggered by the conflict in the Middle East, according to a local lending expert.
Lorraine Wright, head of mortgages at The Mortgage Shop, said that there had been a “noticeable” increase in interest from Islanders inquiring about fixed-rate mortgages.
While she explained that the Island is not currently being hit by the spate of mortgage-rate increases that the UK has seen amid financial uncertainty triggered by the war in the Middle East, she said it was not yet possible to know what the extent of any local impact will be.
Her comments come in the wake of recent hikes by some major lenders in the UK, stemming from market volatility linked to the escalating US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
Ms Wright said: “It’s probably too soon for us all to know what the whole impact of what’s going on in the Middle East is going to actually have an effect in Jersey.”
She acknowledged that there was “always a time lag” and that “things that affect the UK don’t necessarily effect us immediately”, but noted that the Island was not seeing a similar flurry of mortgage rate-rises.
Ms Wright added that, if there had been “any form of change” since the conflict began, it was that “more people are now looking at considering a fixed rate and also a longer-term fixed rate than ever before”.
“That’s the big difference that I’ve seen. And we’ve also had a few people call us that have got mortgage rates coming up in the future with their existing lenders, and just really asking for advice and what we would recommend in terms of the next move and where should they go in terms of rates.”
