Borrowing amounts have stayed pretty stable this month, rising by an average of 0.6% over the last month, while demand for leads from advisers rose as it appears that you
are trying to get your pipeline of work in for next year before the Christmas break.

Demand is always high at this time of year, and this had an effect on mortgage lead prices, pushing them up slightly to an average of £10.68 a lead. Drawing a comparison with a couple of years ago, when the average mortgage lead price was £27 in November 2007 – and some advisers paid as much as £70 for a single adverse credit lead, it is clear just how dramatically our market has changed.

While each lead remains a borrower genuinely looking for mortgage advice, the willingness of banks to lend to those people has changed considerably leading to well publicised challenges for advisers trying to do the best by their clients.

The number of leads has risen steadily overthe couple of years,  as an increasing number of consumers turn to the internet for everyday use, making them  much more comfortable with researching financial products. London experienced a 4% drop in requested borrowing amounts this November, the highest drop in the country, although that was after an accumulative rise of 7.5% over the last two months, to the largest requested mortgage amounts ever seen in London. Scotland also experienced a drop this month, but only of 1.5%, but this followed another drop of 3.5% last month.

More than half of the UK saw a rise in the amount that people wanted to borrow
on their mortgage this month; mostly these were the southern regions, but the North
West and Wales also saw rises. Wales had the most incredible increase in the amount
that people asked to borrow which must surely be a blip, with a corresponding fall
anticipated next month.

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Requested borrowing  amounts in Wales went up by 11.3% this month to £120,500. It experienced a fall last month, but only of 3%, nowhere near enough to account for such a large  rise in November. It is interesting to look at what people are asking to borrow now compared to  this time last year as it is a positive picture.

Borrowing amounts had started to fall by November last year, so this year’s requested mortgage amounts are actually 4.5% higher now than they were a year ago. Only in Scotland, the North East and Northern Ireland do people want to borrow a little less than this time last year.

So what have we got to look forward to for the rest of the year? Typically, the
number of consumers looking for advice tails off as we get towards Christmas,
although it is amazing that there are a few people every year who still look for advice
even on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Come New Year, there is usually a dramatic  increase in the number of people who  want to speak to an adviser as New Year’s resolutions kick in and people resolve to move house or sort their finances out.

As demand goes up, expect lead prices to dip again, so early January is always a
great time to fill your diary with lots of new clients.