43% of borrowers increased their loan size in December, according to data from LMS’ Monthly Remortgage Snapshot for December 2022.
The Snapshot also found that there was an £240 average monthly payment increase for those who remortgaged in December.
What’s more 67% of those who remortgaged took out a 5-year fixed rate product, the most popular product in December, while 35% said their main aim when remortgaging was to gain longer term security.
Nick Chadborne, CEO of LMS, said: “While all metrics fell in December, this is somewhat unsurprising.
“The quieter month was both seasonal and down to the fact that the majority of borrowers were holding out to see what the new year would bring.
“Those who did remortgage were looking for longer term security as is evident by over two thirds of them locking in 5-year fixed rates.
The data showed that overall, 72% of those surveyed reported to having increased their monthly mortgage repayments.
Regionally, the average remortgage loan amount in London and the South East was £301,303 while the average for the rest of the UK stood at £151,254.
This put remortgage loan amounts 99% higher in London and the South East than the rest of the UK.
The longest previous mortgage length was found in the North East at 69.26 months (5.77 years) and the shortest was in East Midlands at 60.52 months (5.04 years), putting the longest previous mortgage term 14% longer than the shortest.
Chadbourne added: “Moving forwards, we’re likely to see the market stabilise – the economy will likely steady in 2023 following the political volatility that dominated the last year.
“Mortgage rates are expected to reduce at the beginning of the year before settling back into previous dynamics against the base rate movements.
He concluded: “Borrowers should therefore expect the first half of 2023 to bring the lowest prices for the foreseeable future and aim to lock these in while they still last.”
