Mortgage advice firm deVere reports a 55% rise in mortgage enquiries since the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates for the first time in seven-and-a-half years earlier this month.
The specialist in expat overseas buyer advice said the rate move on 4 August acted as a catalyst, particularly for British expats.
Mike Coady, managing director of deVere Mortgages, said: “Before the Brexit vote many people had been delaying taking action until the referendum result was revealed so they could see how the land lies; and this interest rate cut has now provided extra impetus to act now to secure a home loan.”
The slowdown in house price growth in areas like London, East Anglia, the West Midlands and the North has also been a driver, added Coady.
“Furthermore, property in the UK is still in high demand from overseas buyers, mainly due to the major underlying strengths of British property investments; the plummeting post-Brexit pound which makes buying property in the UK with foreign currency less costly than before; and because some sellers have been being apprehensive since the Leave victory, and as such, are prepared to accept lower offers,” he said.
Coady said he expects the BoE’s post-referendum action to recession-proof the UK will keep activity levels high.
A Mortgage Solutions poll taken a week after the rate cut revealed just 7% of domestic-focused brokers saw a significant uptick in remortgage enquiries, where 66% reported no difference since the interest rate drop.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
