Last month was the second busiest month for mortgage searches since November 2019, with remortgaging dominating the market.
The latest report released by Twenty7Tec has found that the housing market has continued upwards despite the end of the stamp duty (LBTT in Scotland) holiday earlier this year.
Over the last two years, the only other month that has been busier than November this year was March 2021 as we all started to come out of the winter restrictions imposed on us following high Covid19 numbers in January and February. In fact, remortgages accounted for nearly half of the total mortgage searches in 2021 rising to nearly 57% when product transfers are taken into account. On November 4th, remortgage documents overtook purchase document volumes for the first time since November 2020.
In October there was much chatter in the industry about a rise in interest rates and mortgage companies putting their interest rates in anticipation of this move by the Bank of England. Due to this, there was a 7% increase in searches for fixed rate mortgages with other mortgage types falling in search numbers.
The busiest day was November 2nd with and that seventeen of the top 20 days this year for buy-to-let searches were in November.
House prices in 2022
According to Zoopla, the total value of British homes has risen by an incredible 20% over the last five years
This means that nearly 12 million homes have increased in value by the national average of £49,000 or more since 2016.
House price growth has been underpinned by historically low mortgage rates and with the pandemic resulting in a huge number of homeowners reassessing if their home meets their needs including new home working arrangements. Limited supply has only fuelled house price growth.
Looking to remortgage?
If you are seeking a mortgage on your property talk to us at The Mortgage Hub. You may be looking to move home, switch to a better mortgage deal on your existing home, release equity to consolidate debts or carry out home improvements. We can look at either remortgaging with your existing lender, or depending on your circumstances and current deal, move to another lender for a more competitive rate. Many mortgage deals come with a discounted rate for a set amount of time, so it’s common to find that you may be about to move onto your lenders Standard Variable Rate- if this is the case you may be able to remortgage several months before the end of your deal.
Contact us on 01698 200050 to find out more from one of our friendly mortgage specialists.