In the third quarter of the year 80% of remortgage applications resulted in an offer, with 83% moving on to complete, the body said. By comparison, in Q2 77% of applications were successful.
As a result, 67% of all remortgage applications completed in Q3 – the highest percentage seen in any quarter since IMLA began tracking this at the start of the year.
The quarterly report – which uses data from BDRC Continental to examine intermediary sector activity – follows mortgage applicants’ journey through the approval process from their initial enquiry through to completion.
Executive director Peter Williams said: “Conditions in the mortgage market were particularly good for remortgagors in Q3, with noticeable increases in the number of applications resulting in offers and subsequent completions.
“The low interest rates available to borrowers almost certainly contributed to this increase, with borrowers able to switch on to very attractive deals.”
He added: “Rates are unlikely to fall much further, given that they are priced against swap rates, but the sustained 0.25% base rate means they are also unlikely to rise – which should encourage further remortgage activity.”
The tracker also found a jump in the number of remortgage enquiries lenders received in Q3: from an average of 38 enquiries in Q2 to 48 in the following quarter.
Intermediaries also received an average of 43 buy to let enquiries and 45 specialist enquiries in the quarter. Buy to lets had a 55% completion rate, while 52% of all specialist enquiries ended up completed, according to the research.
Business as usual?
The Brexit Referendum result also did not appear to significantly affect the flow of customers through the mortgage approvals process, IMLA found.
Although there was a small decrease in the rate of borrowers whose initial enquiries resulted in agreements in principle – from 59% to 58% – and the rate of mortgage offers completed fell marginally – from 75% to 74% – enquiries were up.
Intermediaries reported an average of 46 enquiries in Q3 – two more than the 44 average recorded in Q2, suggesting appetite for borrowing continued to increase, IMLA said.
Intermediaries ‘fairly’ confident
Overall, intermediaries were shown to be confident about the outlook in their market. Although overall, confidence remained lower than it was a year ago, IMLA said.
More specifically, the proportion of intermediaries feeling ‘very confident’ about the mortgage industry as a whole increased by six percentage points, from 39% in Q2 to 45% in Q3.
But when it came to their own sector, fewer advisers felt as strongly, with a growing percentage saying they ‘fairly confident’.
Williams said: “2016 has been a tumultuous year for the market, with the changes to Stamp Duty and the Brexit vote both affecting activity, and it is therefore unsurprising to see that intermediary confidence dipped slightly. However, the market has proved itself much more robust than many predicted it would be, and the industry is in a good place to continue this momentum into 2017.”
