Moving on to brighter times

With another year over and a new one about to begin, to paraphrase John Lennon, the property industry is breathing a collective sigh of relief at the end of a rocky 2025 and talking up the possibility of a better 2026.

- Edited by DEBORAH STONE

The much-anticipated reduction of interest rates in December has already led to improved mortgage deals in the run-up to Christmas and insiders hope further expected rate reductions should help get sales moving again.

An end-of-year report by Mojo Mortgages reveals that 95.49% of its customers opted for fixed rate rather than tracker rate mortgages in 2025, with just over half choosing two-year deals and just over a third taking a five-year option. The number taking three or one-year fixed rates was negligible.

During the year, rates dropped from 4.8% in January for two-year deals to 4.1% in December and the company’s data shows that remortgagers are now prepared to shop around and switch to a new lender rather than just signing up to a new product from the same provider.