Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

UK Mortgage Rates Set to Drop, NatWest Cuts Tracker

6/25/2026

50 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

UK Mortgage Decline

UK mortgage rates may fall before June end.
Swap rates fell, with two-year contracts down 20 points and five-year contracts down 15 points.
Barclays launched a two-year fixed mortgage at 4.39 percent, near the top of listings.
NatWest cut tracker remortgage rates by over half a percentage point, spurring competition.
Sam Fox warned mortgage products can disappear and urged borrowers to choose a mortgage that fits their needs.

Summary

HUD Loosens Rules

HUD announced 14 revisions to the FHA single-family mortgage-insurance program, loosening appraisal rules.
Freddie Mac’s survey reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.47% on June 21.
CME Group’s Fed Watch tool showed 36% of traders expect a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve (Fed) hike in July, up from 18% a month earlier.
Bob Broeksmit said applications fell for fourth time in five weeks while purchase demand is 3% higher.

History

Historical Context

During the 2008 crisis the Federal Reserve drove its target rate from 5.25% to 0–0.25% by December 16 2008, while Treasury launched the $700 billion TARP and injected $250 billion into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those emergency cuts and backstops lowered borrowing costs, a pattern echoed today as UK banks such as Barclays cut mortgage rates and U.S. lenders report 30-year rates near 6.5%.

1 of 3

UK Mortgage Decline

UK mortgage rates may fall before June end.
Swap rates fell, with two-year contracts down 20 points and five-year contracts down 15 points.
Barclays launched a two-year fixed mortgage at 4.39 percent, near the top of listings.
NatWest cut tracker remortgage rates by over half a percentage point, spurring competition.
Sam Fox warned mortgage products can disappear and urged borrowers to choose a mortgage that fits their needs.

1 / 3