Remortgage searches were down 19.03% on the previous week, with volumes at 66.1% of the year’s weekly highs
A similar drop was seen in the production of European Standardised Information Sheets (ESIS), which fell by 3.8%, while the total value of mortgages documented was down 0.90%.
However, this is likely due to the bank holiday, as the week in fact saw four of the five busiest days since lockdown began.
This was the busiest week for purchase mortgages since the start of lockdown, with weekly purchase mortgage search volumes now at 74.2% of the year’s high point.
Remortgage searches were down 19.03% on the previous week, with volumes at 66.1% of the year’s weekly highs.
The ratio of purchase to remortgage searches was 59.9:40.1, which is near the upper end of long-term ratios.
James Tucker, CEO of Twenty7Tec, said: This week’s results were affected by the bank holiday last Monday and the significant drop off in remortgage business. Despite the bank holiday Monday, the week’s results only nudged down 3.13% on the prior week’s mortgage search volumes.
We had four of the five busiest days for total volumes since lockdown began, with Thursday standing out as the busiest day for purchase searches since lockdown began. If we can sustain that momentum into the week ahead, it’s likely to be the best week for over two months, Tucker said.
The remortgage market, however, is shifting a little and has activity levels drop off to a six week low. Bank holidays and weeks with them in disproportionately affect remortgage volumes, so let’s see what the week ahead brings. It’s almost impossible to believe that purchases now form almost double the ratio of mortgage searches that they did just a month ago, he said.
At the end of April, they represented 31.4% of weekly mortgage searches, whereas at the end of May, they represented 59.9%. Buy-to-let has dropped to 17.99% of mortgage searches versus 65.94% for standard residential searches. This is down significantly on recent highs of 24% of all mortgage searches, Tucker said.
There are some broader macroeconomic challenges ahead – including the changing terms of the mortgage holiday and furlough and how these will affect employment rates, and household incomes and finances and the supply and demand in the housing market, Tucker said.
As we navigate through the coming weeks, we will continue to issue weekly figures to make sure that buyers, intermediaries and lenders are all best placed to make the right decisions, he said.