Homeowners may still be feeling the sting of tightened lending practices as they search out a remortgage.  It is in fact the main reason that many economists believe homeowners have stayed away from remortgaging and are instead paying off debt.  Remortgaging has increased in the last six months but the numbers still remain quite low when compared to a healthy market’s level.

Economists believe there are many more homeowners that could benefit from a remortgage but they have failed to secure one.  This could have a major impact on those homeowners once an interest rate increase occurs.  This is especially true if, as suggested, there will be a much larger increase the longer the rate goes unchanged.  Many homeowners may be expecting only a slight increase to occur and yet there could be not only a much larger one but many one right after the other.

Knowing how the economy will move and turn is hard unless you have a crystal ball and you can see how the unrest in the Middle East will continue impacting the cost of energy.  If you can see how weather and natural disasters will impact crops and increase or decrease the cost of food and cotton for textiles.  If you know how inflation will respond and how the public spending cuts, job losses, and increased taxes will take their toll, then you could perhaps know how much of an increase to expect and when.

If you aren’t a professional economist, then it is better that you leave the above factors and the many others to the pros that know how to read impacts, trends, and results.  Yet, you can of course listen to forecasts and you should, especially if you are one of the homeowners yet to secure a remortgage that could save you from rising interest rates.  An interest rate increase could come as quite a shock to a household budget and preparation and prevention are in line when it comes to facing one, making a remortgage a strong consideration for many homeowners.