The average shelf-life of a mortgage has dropped to 15 days at the start of June, compared to 28 days a month earlier, Moneyfacts has found.

In its UK mortgage trends report, the firm revealed that this compares to a shelf-life of 15 days in July 2023.

Moneyfacts also found that the average mortgage rate rises on overall two and five-year fixed rate deals increased by just 0.02% month-on-month, which is the smallest jump recorded this year.

Furthermore, these rates remain slightly lower compared to December 2023.

The average two-year fix remains 0.43% higher than its five-year equivalent. Moneyfacts added that these averages have not been higher than this since October 2023, when the difference worked out at 0.50%.

Finance expert at Moneyfacts, Rachel Springall, said: "Borrowers may feel disheartened to see another consecutive month of rises to the average two and five-year fixed mortgage rates. However, both rose by a modest 0.02%, the smallest month-on-month rise this year.

"Lenders spent the first few weeks of May repricing, in reaction to a volatile swap rate market, but the latter end of the month was more subdued, around the time the Government announced there would be a General Election in July."

Despite the drop in mortgage product shelf-life, the number of products available to consumers rose month-on-month, to its highest level since February 2008.

However, Moneyfacts has warned that those who are looking to remortgage should still be wary of higher prices.

Springall added: "Year-on-year the overall availability of mortgages has risen by 1,662 deals, and within that pool of products, there are 156 more at 90% LTV and 124 more at 95% LTV. These rises are good news for borrowers who may be struggling to build a big enough deposit to secure a new deal. On the other end of the spectrum, there are just 98 more deals at 60% LTV, and month-on-month, there was a slight fall of 15 deals.

"Consumers concerned about rising rates would be wise to seek advice from an independent broker to see if they can lock into a deal early, as some will let borrowers do this from three to six months in advance. However, there may well be some borrowers sitting on the fence, hoping the market gets a base rate cut this year, but they could still grab a lower rate deal than if they were to sit on their SVR without fixing, such as with a tracker deal.

"Those about to come off a five-year fixed mortgage will have to face the reality that rates are much higher now on an equivalent deal, 2.65% in fact, compared to June 2019, so consumers must ensure they can afford the higher repayments."

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