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Mortgage sales fell below a million in 2023 – FCA
There were 888,288 mortgages sold last year, a drop from the 1.15 million completed in 2022, data from the regulator showed.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) mortgage product sales data showed the highest number of mortgages were completed in Q3 last year, totalling 239,659. Compared to the same period in 2022, this was down from a total of 299,754.
Mortgage sales dipped by the end of last year to 212,447 transacted in Q4, which was lower than the 293,184 completions in the final quarter of 2022.
Remortgage activity slowly declined over 2023, starting at 91,659 sales at the beginning of the year and falling to 65,200 by Q4.
By comparison, remortgage sales topped 90,000 every quarter in 2022, with a high of 99,555 in Q1 last year.
Over 2023, some 310,924 remortgage products were sold, down from 380,197 in 2022.
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The majority – 90% – of mortgages sold last year were on a fixed interest rate.
Most mortgages advised and intermediated
According to the FCA’s data, the majority of mortgages sold across both years were advised, at 2.85% in 2022 and 2.2% in 2023. In numbers, this represented 32,900 and 19,609 non-advised sales respectively.
Some 211,111 of the 1.15 million mortgages sold in 2022 were sold directly to consumers, and this fell to 141,575 out of 888,288 in 2023.
Later life mortgage sales halve
The number of later life mortgage sales nearly halved, falling from 50,062 in 2022 to 26,517 last year. The lowest number of lifetime mortgages was sold in Q4, when this totalled 5,348.
There were 281,507 mortgages sold to first-time buyers last year, compared to 360,189 in 2022.
Sales to homemovers totalled 251,783, down from 338,855 in 2022. The highest number of mortgages sold to homemovers last year was in Q3, with a total of 71,037. Compared to the same period a year earlier, this was down from a figure of 92,917.