Mortgage searches across purchase, remortgage, buy-to-let (BTL) and first-time buyer areas decreased in June, but could rise now the election is over.
According to Twenty7tec’s monthly mortgage report for June, purchase mortgage searches decreased by 7.4% month-on-month in May but were only down 1.25% compared to the same period last year.
Remortgage searches contracted by 7.27% compared to May and were down 24.36% on the same period last year.
BTL purchase searches fell by 7.52% on May figures and decreased by 2.23% on June 2023 figures.
BTL remortgage searches fell by 10.01% in June 2024 compared to May 2024. The decrease was pegged at 24.59% on the same period last year.
Residential purchase mortgage searches decreased by 6.97% month-on-month in June, but were up 0.37% compared to last year.
Residential remortgage searches dropped by 5.9% in June compared to May and were down 23.64% compared to June last year.
First-time buyer searches decreased by 10.42% month-on-month in June and fell by 9.75% compared to the same period last year.
Fixed rate searches
Two-year fixed rates made up 45.63% of all fixed product searches, a rise from 42.62% in June 2023.
Three- to five-year fixed rates accounted for 34.5% of all fixed rate product searches, in line with 33.69% from June last year.
Five- to 10-year fixed rates contributed around 19.87% of all fixed product searches, a drop from 23.69% in April 2023.
Nathan Reilly (pictured), director at Twenty7tec, said: “I think that there were some nerves ahead of the general election, with mortgage search volumes down compared to prior months and also against the same month last year. Now that a new government is in place, it will be interesting to see how quickly things settle back down.
“Buy-to-let search volumes were at their lowest since August last year (excluding December, which is always a slower month). We also hit the lowest levels of ESIS documents prepared for remortgages since April 2021 (again, excluding Decembers). Finally, purchase mortgage ESIS documents are at their lowest since November 2022 (excluding Decembers).
“A particular change of note is the remortgage market, where we are down 24.36% compared to the volumes in the same month last year.
“Finally, we saw a drop of 11.3% in searches for £1m+ valuation properties, often a bellwether of how busy the market is going to be in general.”
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.