While overall mortgage volumes remained pretty much constant in July, the most noticeable change over the last month was a surge in first-time buyer enquiries which were up to just under 22% of all mortgage enquiries in July.
Remortgages were still the largest proportion of total mortgage enquiries accounting for just under 55% of all mortgage leads traded.
Homemover enquiries also saw a month-on-month increase to just under 15% of enquiries, with buy-to-let leads reversing a few months of rises by dropping to under 9% of total enquiries.
Despite the drop in the number of buy-to-let enquiries, there has been a strong increase in the demand for these leads.
Across the UK, the average LTV for buy-to-let applicants in July just under 68%, with an average loan value of £115,500.
Across all buy-to-let enquiries, more than 80% were from prime consumers, with just under 3% sub prime and a further 16% looking to self-certify their incomes.
Regionally, the most popular area for buy-to-let leads, in terms of volume, was the Home Counties, with 22.6% of enquiries. Next was the North West, with 16.4% of enquiries, followed by the Midlands with 14.4% and then the South West with 11.2% of enquires.
Looking at average loan values across the UK, unsurprisingly the area with the highest average loan by a long way was London, at more than £183,000.
This was followed by the Home Counties, with an average loan size of £145,000 and then the South, at £120,000. The region with the lowest loan values was the North West at £89,400.
Analysing consumer credit grades across the UK, the highest number of prime consumers as a proportion of leads was the North East, with 85.5% of all buy-to-let enquiries from prime consumers, followed by the Scotland and then the North West with 84%.
The area with the most sub-prime enquires was the North West, followed by the South and then East Anglia.
Justin Rees, is director of marketing and partnerships at LeadPoint
