A wave of mortgage rate hikes in July wiped out reductions seen the previous month, according to analysis of average rates on the market.
The average new mortgage rate at the start of August was 5.59% – 0.12 percentage points higher than at the start of July – Moneyfacts said.
This took the average mortgage rate back to what it had been at the start of June, at 5.59%.
Moneyfacts said the average new mortgage rate is calculated from on-sale, “core” market fixed and variable tracker mortgages.
It excludes deals such as adverse credit, shared ownership only and standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages.
By the start of August, the average shelf life of a mortgage on the market was just 11 days, down from 14 days at the start of July, Moneyfacts said.
This was the lowest typical time period since April, when the average length of time a mortgage deal was on the market before being withdrawn was eight days, according to the financial information website, which analysed the market at the start of each month for the research.
Despite the mortgage merry-go-round spinning faster as products appear and disappear, the overall availability of deals remains strong, Moneyfacts found.
It counted 7,357 products available at the start of August, jumping from 7,177 at the start of July.
Rachel Springall, a finance expert at Moneyfacts, said that, amid the conflict in the Middle East, persistent concerns over the future outlook of interest rates have led to volatility in swap rates, which are used by lenders to price mortgages.
She said: “Due to the swift action of lenders to re-price their ranges last month, the average shelf life of a mortgage dropped to 11 days, now its lowest recorded since April, when mortgage turmoil pushed the lifespan of a mortgage down to just eight days.”
Ms Springall added: “In positive news, mortgage product availability rose for a fourth consecutive month.”