Good time to fix a Mortgage?

Hi;
Is it a good time to fix the mortgage rate?

Cheers
B

well, the interest rates by the ECB will deffo change next year and it wont be down.... This will be the final series of squeezes to empty all your pockets and the government wont be able to do anything about it. If I could I would fix mine mid year but my mortgage is variable throughout its life. Good now but not if the rates go bananas like the 80s.

orionstar21 said:

If I could I would fix mine mid year but my mortgage is variable throughout its life. Good now but not if the rates go bananas like the 80s.

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If you are on a variable rate there should not be a problem fixing at any time.

In response to the OP, only fix if you need to be sure of future repayments, do not try and time the market. Although some people think they can predict future movements of interest rates, in fact they are just educated guesses.

You could also have unforeseen changes in your personal circumstances where the flexibility of a variable rate could come in very handy.

www.moneybackmortgages.ie

Don't forget that everyone was telling people to fix 2/3 years ago.

Like everything there are pros and cons. Each set of circumstances if different and therefore should be assessed differently. Only the person thinking of taking the fixed rate can answer if it is a good time to fix.

If you were to analyse the best variable/tracker rates available over the twenty years you will find that in most instances the variable rate in the long term works out cheaper than the fixed rate.

If you are doing it to make or save money then the probability is that you will not. The fixed rates are based on what market forces believe interest rates will be in the long term with a premium built in, so you are betting against the market, you may triumph once but what are the chances of that?

If you are looking to fix then it should be for security reasons with a view to protecting against fluctuations in your monthly expenditure. That said they are inflexible and you will pay if you try to break a fixed term.

tks Norfbank but I have an affordable apartment with an annuity mortgage with the council and part of their terms was that the mortgage rate was variable and could not be fixed. Not sure how legal that is.... I read in the indo today that one of the ECB council members (spannish man, I cant remember his name) said he does not envisage an increase until mid 2010.... but as Jhegarty said, we were advised not so long ago to fix fix fix. I'm not giving financial advice, I'm just saying what I would do, wait till next year and see how the EU and Global Economy is progressing.