UK Finance: Residential remortgaging market sees strongest July in a decade

UK Finance's Mortgage Trends Update for July 2018 reveals:                                                                                                            

• There were 46,900 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 23.1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £8.7bn of remortgaging in the month was 26.1 per cent more year-on-year.               
                                                                                        
• There were 32,600 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 3.8 per cent fewer than in the same month a year earlier. The £7.3bn of new lending in the month was the same year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £57,000.              
                                                                                      
• There were 31,400 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £5.4bn of new lending in the month was 5.9 per cent more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.
                                                                                                              
• There were 5,500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 14.1 per cent fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.8bn of lending in the month, 11.1 per cent down year-on-year.                                                                  
• There were 14,700 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 7.3 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier.  By value this was £2.4bn of lending in the month, 9.1 per cent more year-on-year.                                          

Commenting on the data, Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance said:

“The residential remortgaging market saw its strongest July in over a decade, as homeowners pre-empted the latest Bank of England rate rise by locking into attractive fixed-rate deals.

“There was also considerable growth in remortgaging in the buy-to-let sector, showing that while recent tax and regulatory changes are impacting on new purchases, many existing landlords remain in the market.

“The number of first-time buyers has returned to modest year-on-year growth. However, affordability remains a challenge for many prospective borrowers, underlining the importance of clarity over the future of schemes such as Help to Buy.”