Mortgage market volumes down one-fifth compared to last month, says Twenty7tec

Total mortgage searches for the past seven days were down 18.7% compared with the same period four weeks ago, Twenty7tec has revealed.

According to it latest market statistics, buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage searches were also down, falling by 13.2% over the same period.

Purchase mortgage searches were down over 12.9% throughout the month, while remortgage searches fell by 24.2%

Nathan Reilly (pictured), director at Twenty7tec, said: “The market has fundamentally shifted over the past week or two.

“Lenders have adjusted their products based on underlying swaps prices, building in slower reductions in interest rates than were priced in at the back end of last year.

“The heat in the market was always going to be hard to sustain – the levels of mortgage searches in January and February set new records for our busiest ever times.

“But it seems that that early-year exuberance has now been swapped for sobriety in March.”

He concluded: “The market is keen to hear some good news in the next inflation update and BOE meeting.

“That mood music – which we saw directly influence a surge in activity earlier this year – will be so important when it comes to injecting confidence into the market.”

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