Local housing market remains relatively strong
There's a glimmer of hope that the period of rising mortgage rates might be coming to an end.
Halifax has become the latest lender to announce a cut on some of its fixed rate mortgage products with a drop of 0.71 per cent.
It takes a five-year fixed deal from 6.10 per cent to 5.39 per cent.
The move has been attributed in part to a slowdown in the UK housing market and the desire by lenders to attract more buyers - in contrast the local housing market remains relatively strong.
The Bank of England raised rates for the 14th time in a row last week from 5 to 5.25 per cent.
Despite this the feeling among financial commentators in the UK is that the mortgage market may have peaked.
Most large banks and building societies are lowering rates. HSBC has also cut some homebuyer, first time buyer and re-mortgage rates by up to 0.35 per cent.
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