Competitive market drives highest rate of remortgaging in a decade

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

There were 50,500 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 23.2 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £9.2bn of remortgaging in the month was 22.7 per cent more year-on-year.
There were 32,900 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 8.2 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £5.5bn of new lending in the month was 12.2 per cent more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.
There were 33,400 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 4 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £7.4bn of new lending in the month was 8.8 per cent more year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £56,000.
There were 6,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 9 per cent fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.8bn of lending in the month, 20 per cent down year-on-year.
There were 15,700 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 5.4 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £2.5bn of lending in the month, 4.2 per cent more year-on-year.

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

Remortgaging has reached its highest level in almost a decade, as homeowners take advantage of a competitive market and lock into attractive deals. This also reflects the large number of fixed rate mortgages coming to an end, which is expected to continue into 2019.

There has been relatively strong growth in the number of first-time buyers, with schemes such as Help to Buy providing vital support to those getting a foot on the housing ladder.

Meanwhile the buy-to-let market has seen a continued increase in remortgaging and a softening in home purchase activity, in line with ongoing trends in recent months.

Notes to editor

For more information please call the UK Finance press office on 020 7416 6750 or email press@ukfinance.org.uk
UK Finance is the collective voice for the banking and finance industry. Representing more than 250 firms across the industry we help drive forward positive change to enhance standards, support customers and promote innovation.
The data shown is grossed up from the sample of lenders reporting to reflect total market size, based on total market volumes of Mortgage Product volumes of Mortgage Product Sales Data published by the FCA, so our historical figures are subject to revision as and when the FCA makes revisions to the market totals. The average figures shown are medians, as they tend to better represent the position of the typical borrower. Affordability measures are based on median averages of calculations for individual transactions. Capital & interest payment calculations only include mortgages taken out on a full capital and interest repayment basis and are calculated based on the reported repayment term, interest rate, loan amount and income for each transaction.
Income metrics are presented on a gross household basis, as the sum of all income sources for all borrowers included in the affordability assessment.
For further information on the factors affecting remortgaging rates, please see the UK Finance blog on the issue published in June 2018:

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First-time buyers Housing market