Mortgages steal the show in the weekend money sections

While last weekend’s money sections focussed on the political unrest in Egypt and the effects this would have on investing in the country, this weekend’s money sections were all about mortgages. These stories jumped from 8 per cent last week to 17 per cent this week and credit cards also saw a hike in coverage – quadrupling from just 2 per cent last week to 8 per cent.

The overwhelming theme on mortgages was that although low rates have been good news for homebuyers up to now, nothing lasts forever. In the Independent, Julian Knight (@ukmoneyguru) and Chiara Cavaglieri highlighted the unparalleled stability of low interest rates that we are experiencing at the moment and how this translates to good news for mortgage holders. However, with the Confederation of British Industry predicting an imminent interest rate rise, anyone looking for a low fixed rate ought to act now.

Rosie Murray-West in the Telegraph (@TeleFinance)  also drew upon this theme, pointing out that while many lenders are already putting up the price of fixed-rate mortgages, this trend only likely to continue as swap rates are soaring on the expectation of a Bank of England rate rise.

Which?’s campaign against the surcharges placed on credit cards was responsible for a spike in credit card stories this week (@WhichMoney). The consumer body will launch a ‘super-complaint’ to force the Office of Fair Trading to examine these ‘rip-off’ charges. Simon Read’s column in the Independent looked at the companies who are guilty of excessive charges on credit card transactions. While each transaction only costs a business 20p to carry out, the consumer is often charged a massive £5.50. The Telegraph advised shoppers to use debit cards rather than credit cards to try to avoid the “ “rip-off” charges. The rest of the scores this week were as follows:

  The rest of the scores this week were as follows:

Charity                  1%

Credit cards        8%

Fraud/scams      0%

IFAs                       0%

Insurance            9%

Investment        29%

Mortgages          17%

Pensions              11%

Property              1%

Regulation          3%

Savings                 14%

Tax                         6%

Utilities                 1%