Borrowers who remortgaged in September faced a monthly payment increase of £370, with almost 50% of homeowners choosing to increase their loan size.
Almost a third of borrowers said their main aim for remortgaging was to release equity from their home.
Analysis by conveyancing panel manager LMS found that, on average, borrowers increased their loans by £20,827. Homeowners who chose to reduce their mortgage balance when entering a new deal did so by £14,682.
Some 44% of remortgage borrowers opted for a two-year fixed rate deal, the most popular deal type last month.
Cancellation rates ticked up by 12%, while new instructions rose by 24%.
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Rate rise expectations
LMS also gauged borrowers’ opinions of whether we’re likely to see interest rate increases. Some 38% of respondents said we would see rate increases within the next year and 18% thought that rate rises were more than a year away, while the majority – 44% – of borrowers had no expectation of a rate increase.
Nick Chadbourne (pictured), chief executive of LMS, said: “As the summer ended, we were waiting to see if the usual seasonal remortgage uplift would kick in, and it has. Over 33% of all product expiries in 2024 will happen in Q4; therefore, it’s no surprise to see the increase in instructions.
“Specifically, the end of December consists of the highest number of product expiries for a single month across the whole of 2024.
“Even though rates are forecasted to drop in 2025, we are still seeing a large number of customers choosing to fix over the longer term, emphasising customers’ desire to lock in certainty over the long term.”
