Surprise base rate rise announced today
Today the Bank of England raised interest rates to 5.25%, raising them to the highest point in five and a half years and a surprise to analysts, who were predicting the rise in February.
It is reported that the Committee judged a 0.25% increase was necessary to bring the CPI inflatuion back to the target in the medium term.
Warren Bright, chief executive of Propertyfinder.com, said:
Today's interest rate increase is bad news for the housing market. The impact of the August and November rate hikes still needed some time to take effect and this move by the MPC will prematurely increase pressure on home buyers. We expected the market to slow naturally in 2007 but a more abrupt adjustment is now more likely.
Go to Radio 5 to hear listen to more from Propertyfinder.com and other experts on this topic.
