According to Twenty7tec, there were more than 25,000 live mortgage products on the platform last month. The first time it breached this number was in February.
There was also a new high in the number of ESIS documents produced by mortgage advisers in a single day, totalling 31,120 on 13 May. Twenty7tec said this was nearly double the average daily volume seen so far this year.
A lively first-time buyer market
Compared to the previous month, Twenty7tec recorded a 12.3% increase in the number of searches conducted on the platform in May and said a lot of this was driven by first-time buyers.
There were 352,958 first-time buyer purchase searches in May, up 13.9% on last year and 3.5% on April. Aspiring homeowners made up 37.3% of all residential searches last month, representing a 33.9% increase on the same period last year. Nearly half – 48.2% – of searches were for products at the 90% loan-to-value (LTV) tier and above, while 78% were for products over 80% LTV.
Remortgage activity was also found to be strong in May, up 23.1% annually and 7.6% higher than the previous month.
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Excluding first-time buyers, residential purchase mortgage searches were up 5.2% month-on-month but down 1.5% year-on-year.
By contrast, buy-to-let (BTL) purchase searches fell 11.7% year-on-year and only made up 14.8% of all search activity on the platform, which Twenty7tec said was the lowest proportion on record and a steady decline from the peak of 23.9% in 2018.
There was a 7.3% increase in BTL remortgage searches when compared to the month before, and annually this was 5.6% higher.
More interest in shorter-term fixed rates
Searches for fixed mortgage rates of two years and shorter accounted for 47.6% of all fixed product searches, representing a 34.3% uplift compared to April. The proportion of these searches was also larger than the share of 45.7% during the same month last year.
There was a slight fall in the share of searches for 3-5-year fixes, down from 34.3% in April to 31.9% in May. Compared to last year, this was lower than the share of 34.1%.
The proportion of searches for 5-10-year fixed rates was relatively flat, moving from 21.6% in April to 21.4% in May. However, this was higher than the share of 20.3% in May 2024.
A rise in confidence
Nathan Reilly, commercial director at Twenty7tec, said: “May felt like a month where confidence picked up noticeably. Search volumes were up, remortgaging remained strong, and first-time buyer demand continued to grow. The product landscape is the most competitive it’s ever been, and that’s good news for advisers and their clients.
“It’s also interesting to see the return of shorter-term fixes as a dominant product choice. With so much speculation around interest rate direction, borrowers seem to be positioning themselves for flexibility.”
He added: “Behind the numbers is the role of technology. Advisers are navigating a complex landscape, and a platform like ours is helping them do it faster, with less admin and more certainty. From affordability checks to research and applications, the integrated tools we provide give firms the confidence to act quickly and compliantly.
“We’ve always said our mission is to support better advice, smoother lending, and smarter decision-making. May’s performance is proof that when tech is working well behind the scenes, advisers can focus on what matters most: helping clients make good financial decisions.”
