The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association’s (IMLA) latest market report found that in Q3, intermediaries’ average annual caseload reached 97 mortgage cases surpassing the previous historic high of 95 reached at the end of the previous quarter.
Record levels of activity have boosted brokers’ confidence in the outlook for their own businesses.
Some 63 per cent of intermediaries said they were very confident in the outlook for their own firms, reaching a three-year high, while 98 per cent reported they were confident overall.
Confidence in the prospects of the mortgage market were also high. The proportion of mortgage brokers who feel very confident reached 46 per cent, another record for the mortgage market tracker series.
Conversion rates
Brokers processed 26 Decision in Principles (DIPs) on average in July, 28 in August and 35 in September as borrowers made a final attempt to save money on their stamp duty bills. The final phase of the stamp duty holiday came to an end on 30 September.
The proportion of DIPs resulting in a DIP-accept picked up strongly in Q3 reaching 85 per cent, a return to pre-pandemic levels.
The proportion of full applications resulting in a mortgage offer increased by three per cent to 89 per cent – the highest level reported since the end of 2019.
Overall conversion from offer to completion increased for the third successive quarter to 79 per cent. The conversion rate was higher at every level of the chain compared to the previous quarter. However, these levels still remain below the high pre-pandemic levels.
Kate Davies (pictured), executive director, IMLA said: “The positive findings seen in our latest report clearly reflect the housing and mortgage market’s strong recovery in 2021. Government stimulus, such as the stamp duty holiday, also helped to stimulate demand, providing a much-needed confidence boost to buyers and helping to maintain momentum in the housing market.
“We have seen intermediary caseloads increase to record levels, and intermediary confidence levels increase to some of the highest recorded.”
