What is the point of HSBC suspending mortgages for the weekend

[Eastie77Returns]

They removed all products yesterday at 3.45pm following a ‘stampede of demand’ and will reinstate them on Monday. I’m not sure what I am missing but I don’t understand the purpose of a 2 day removal. Is demand supposed to dissipate over the next 48 hours?!

They probably have a backlog of applications that they need to clear and they need the weekend to do it.

Possibly they are going to reprice their products and using the weekend as an opportunity to do so. A "stampede of demand" suggests maybe they are currently out of line with the rest of the market.

They were offering some of the best rates on the market. They will be clearing outstanding applications before setting new (higher) rates.

Ok, that makes sense. Just seemed a bit arbitrary that products are suddenly removed for 2 days and will be reinstated on Monday (albeit with a higher interest rate).

Our neighbours are trying to sell and they told me yesterday they are devastated as their buyer is pulling out because of this HSBC situation. This confused me as the buyer apparently already had their offer and I thought HSBC would be legally bound to honour it.

If they have already submitted an application then the rate usually is honoured - I think your neighbours' buyers maybe haven't been truthful about how ready they were?

They'll be trying to clearing backlog. Updating systems. All sorts. And they need a clear cut off point for accepting the old rate. It makes absolutely perfect sense to me.