That’s according to Moneyfacts, which also noted a rise in average fixed mortgage rates over the last month.
The financial information provider said that average mortgage rate rises on overall two- and five-year fixed rate deals were 0.02 percentage points, the smallest monthly increases this year.
Two-year fixed rates are now 5.93% and five-year deals are 5.5%.
The average ‘revert to’ rate or standard variable rate (SVR) remained at 8.18%, just below the highest ever recorded level (8.19%) during November and December 2023.
Average two-year tracker variable mortgage rates fell last month, to 5.94%.
Product choice rose to its highest level since February 2008 to 6,629.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “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 small uplift in rates, there was another rise in the overall product availability of residential mortgages, standing at its highest point in 16 years. As lenders reviewed their ranges, which included repricing, launches and withdrawals, the moves led to the average shelf life of a mortgage plummeting to 15 days, down from 28 days at the start of May.”
Related: UK house prices flat in May
