The UK mortgage market confirmed indicators of life in September, bouncing again from the standard summer time slowdown – however the newest knowledge from Twenty7tec reveals the restoration is way from balanced, with remortgaging dominating exercise.
Whole mortgage searches climbed to 1,675,984 in September, up 7.56% on August and 1.51% in comparison with the identical month final 12 months. Whereas this headline development suggests renewed momentum, a more in-depth look reveals that almost all of it stems from remortgage exercise.
Remortgage searches surged to 820,429 – up 10.7% month-on-month and 14.59% year-on-year – now accounting for nearly half (48.95%) of all mortgage searches. That’s a notable leap from 43.37% a 12 months in the past, as extra debtors choose to refinance amid persistent price uncertainty.
The residential remortgage market noticed 610,022 searches in September, marking a 15.22% annual rise, whereas buy-to-let remortgage searches grew by 12.81%.
In distinction, buy demand stays subdued. Residential purchases (excluding first-time consumers) reached 547,859 searches — down 8.63% year-on-year, regardless of a modest month-to-month acquire of 5.94%. First-time purchaser exercise additionally remained mushy, edging up 2.57% from August however nonetheless down 7.63% on the 12 months. Their share of whole mortgage searches additionally slipped from 19.24% to 18.36% month-on-month, highlighting the continued challenges round affordability and deposit necessities.
Purchase-to-let figures reinforce this divide. Whereas whole searches within the sector rose 4.04% year-on-year to 308,434, buy exercise fell sharply. Solely 98,130 searches had been for buy-to-let purchases in September — down 10.82% in comparison with a 12 months earlier.
Debtors are additionally shifting how they strategy mortgage merchandise. Demand for long-term fixed-rate offers — as soon as in style for stability — is waning quickly. Simply 12.32% of all searches in September had been for six-to-ten-year mounted merchandise, the bottom share on document and almost half the 23.72% seen in September 2024. The drop suggests many debtors are hesitant to lock in present charges and are as an alternative holding out for higher situations within the coming years.
Nakita Moss, head of lender at Twenty7tec, stated: “September’s numbers should be learn fastidiously. Sure, general exercise is up, however it’s being propped up by remortgaging. That isn’t new confidence – it’s individuals enjoying protected, making defensive strikes to safe their family funds.
“Purchases, and first-time purchaser demand specifically, stay weak, and that may be a concern for the long-term well being of the market. The collapse in lengthy fixes exhibits how sceptical debtors are that present charges symbolize good worth. What we’re seeing is resilience, not restoration.”
Nathan Reilly, industrial director at Twenty7tec, commented: “Advisers are actually working in a market the place remortgaging is dominant and first-time consumers are below actual pressure. That is the place good CRM methods and proactive consumer engagement develop into important.
“Advisers can’t anticipate shoppers to come back to them. They should be operating their books, utilizing knowledge to establish who’s approaching the tip of their time period, and beginning conversations early.
“On the similar time, they need to be making ready first-time consumers with real looking affordability situations and supporting them by a harder journey to buy. The advisers who use expertise to anticipate wants relatively than react to them would be the ones who add essentially the most worth on this market.”
