Two-year fix mortgages dominate online searches

Almost half of people seeking initial fixed rate mortgages are considering two-year deals. Fresh data from Moneyfacts Analyser reveals almost one in two (48.77%) moneyfactscompare.co.uk website visitors who compared mortgage deals were looking at two-year fixed mortgages over the 30 days to 28 August 2025.

The next most popular choice was five-year fixes (27.13%). People looking for fixed rate mortgage deals constituted the majority (92.09%) of all mortgage traffic.

Among those analysing two-year options were first-time buyers (FTBs) (4.12%), second-time buyers (19.11%) and remortgage borrowers (22.54%). The least popular initial rate period for fixed rate mortgages is one-year (0.70%). A significant minority (6.31%) of borrowers were looking for a 10-year fix, despite mortgage rates still sitting at higher levels compared to a few years ago.

For variable rate mortgages, again the two-year option was most popular for initial rates; FTBs (0.38%), second-time buyers (0.6%) and remortgage borrowers (1.14%).

A Moneyfactscompare.co.uk spokesperson said: “It comes as little surprise that many borrowers are interested in a two-year term given the general expectation for rates to continue steadily falling over the short-to-medium term. The Moneyfacts average two-year fixed mortgage rate has fallen from 5.2% at the start of 2025 to 4.98% now, recently dipping below 5% for the first time since the aftermath of the so-called mini-Budget in September 2022.

“However, given that inflation is forecast to sit above the Bank of England’s 2% target until at least 2027 and that the cost of Government borrowing has been climbing, there are still plenty of economic challenges on the horizon which may influence mortgage rates and borrower behaviour in the future.”