According to data from Twenty7tec, purchase mortgage searches dropped by 41 per cent month-on-month to 417,948 and remortgage searches fell 35 per cent to 389,190. Compared to November, these represented drops of 13 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
The number of European Standardised Information Sheet (ESIS) documents produced for remortgage outnumbered purchase for the third month running.
Overall, there were 807,138 searches during December, representing a 38 per cent decline in activity.
Nathan Reilly, director of consumer relationships at Twenty7tec, said: “December figures are always affected by the final two weeks of the year. The performance this year is similar to that of December 2021 and December 2020.”
Compared to 2021, mortgage searches were down by just three per cent.
First-time buyer activity
First-time buyers accounted for 17 per cent of the market in December and their average combined income was £57,283. They required mortgages at a loan to value (LTV) of 80 per cent on average, for properties worth £269,675.
In total, there were 159,110 mortgage searches for first-time buyers which was a 39 per cent drop on the month before.
Nakita Moss, national account manager at Twenty7tec, said: “There’s been a steady decay in the volume of first-time buyer searches in the market over recent months.”
Product availability
In December, there were 13,457 mortgages on the market which was a five per cent rise on the previous month. Product numbers were at 67 per cent of pre-pandemic highs.
The total number of searches for fixed rate mortgages was half of that seen in October.
James Tucker, CEO, Twenty7tec, said: “December’s performance was down on the prior month, but broadly in line with what we’d expect from most Decembers over the past few years.
“The next 12 months are going to be full of challenges for advisers and lenders as they move to satisfy customers in challenging economic conditions. We’ll be here to support them in making great decisions and offering the best advice possible, every time.”
