Mortgage rates are rising, with average two- and five-year fixed rates continuing to creep upwards, said Moneyfacts.

For the fourth month in a row, overall average two- and five-year fixed rates both rose. The average two-year fixed rate increased by 0.06% to 2.44%, while the five-year equivalent was up 0.05% to 2.71%.

Eleanor Williams, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “These rates are the highest they have been since August 2021 (2.52% and 2.75%).

“The 60% loan-to-value tier saw the largest monthly rises, with the two- and five-year averages going up by 0.09% and 0.08% to 1.82% and 2.06% respectively. In fact, since October the lower LTV average rates have far outpaced the overall average rate increases as providers seem to have made their most competitive pricing decisions in the top LTV brackets of late.”

Fewer products

The financial information provider also found that product choice is falling, after 15 months of increases. In February the number of products on offer fell by 38 to 5,356.

Despite the dip, there are still 280 more deals on offer than in February 2020 (5,076).

Trackers down

While fixed rates rose in the last month, tracker rates actually fell, with two-year tracker rates down by 0.05% to 1.7%, and term trackers down 0.02% to 3.51%.

Two-year trackers are now 0.57% less than this time last year, while average term trackers are up 0.77% year-on-year.