“Armistice Day in Mortgage Interest War” | Money

The race to the bottom continued in January and early February. But: “After a two-week truce and in addition to the cuts in the past fourteen days, there was now and then a stray interest hike in between,” says Van Bruggen Adviesgroep in its weekly interest rate forecast.

‘Interest war’

The ‘interest war’ of January and early February always yielded small cuts of a few hundredths, writes Van Bruggen. Average mortgage interest rates for the various fixed-rate periods fell by 0.1% to 0.15%.

Van Bruggen expects that small interest rate falls will alternate with small increases in the coming period. De Hypotheekshop also signaled the first interest rate hikes.

Inflation

The cause of the mortgage interest rate rises is the rapidly rising interest rate on the international capital market. This is rising because of the expectation that the enormous support packages from governments will lead to higher inflation. Mortgage rates often follow market rates. This happens with some delay, the advisers emphasize.

Both Van Bruggen and De Hypotheekshop keep a close eye on things. The competition between mortgage lenders is fierce, which means that they will be cautious about excessive interest rate hikes, the advisers expect.

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