50% of borrowers increased their loan size in September, according to new data published by LMS.
As part of its Monthly Remortgage Snapshot for September, LMS used data to provide a comprehensive overview of the re-mortgage activity across the month.
The data shows that there was an average £236 monthly payment increase for those who remortgaged in September, with 68% of those who remortgaged taking out a 5-year fixed rate product.
This overwhelming popularity of the 5-year fixed rate likely comes about in direct response to widespread concern from homeowners about mortgage affordability going forward, especially as rates continue to increase.
Nick Chadbourne, CEO at LMS said: “Mortgages still looking strong in September despite a month of many changes.
“There is no doubt that this is a stressful time for borrowers as they experience an upwards pressure on their mortgage payments, but the end of September is traditionally a big time for ERC expiries.
“This typically means a drop in completions and a swell in pipelines as firms get ready to process these cases on the 1st of October.
“The market volatility caused by the ‘mini-budget’ also saw instructions drop as lenders immediately withdrew products, so all in all, the statistics show what we would expect.
“With the ERC expiry date and the fact that those lucky enough to secure a rate before the budget will see their cases flow through to completion, we expect completions to pick up in October, but it will also likely be a month of anomalies as the ongoing economic instability and changing policy will cause lenders to enter and leave the market with various products as appropriate.”
Furthermore, LMS’s data also found that while 50% increased their total loan size, 36% saw no change.
15% of people actually reduced their total loan size.
The average remortgage loan amount in London and the South East was £279,689 while the average for the rest of the UK stood at £130,570.
This put remortgage loan amounts 72.6% higher in London and the South East than the rest of the UK.
