Second steppers are holding back as they hope for better mortgage rates, research from Twenty7tec found.
Remortgage searches dropped by nearly 10% in June, down to 645,446 from 716,526 in May.
This marked one of the sharpest monthly falls in remortgage activity in 2025 so far.
Nathan Reilly (pictured), director at Twenty7tec, said: “Despite the recent Bank of England announcement that interest rates would be held rather than raised, we are witnessing a quiet yet growing confidence that rates will continue to fall this year.
“We’ve seen months of high remortgage activity, but now people are holding back.
“There’s undoubtedly a significant portion waiting to commit – potentially influenced by increasing media coverage, with predicted autumn rate cuts encouraging a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
Total mortgage searches for June reached 1,730,872, up 11.75% compared to June 2024, but down 7.78% from May.
First-time buyer (FTB) searches stood at 329,998, down 9.7% on the month but still 14.5% higher than June last year.
Residential purchase searches for non-FTB fell to 471,800, down 7.83% from May and 1.62% lower than June 2024.
Buy-to-let (BTL) purchase searches were 96,280 in June, down 5.34% compared to June 2024, but slightly up month-on-month.
Reilly added: “The market has slowed down slightly, but overall activity is significantly healthier than last year.
“First-time buyer interest remains high, and we are noticing people leaning towards shorter-term fixes – all pointing to some optimism that interest rates may drop next year.
“Will they be rewarded? Or are we heading for disappointment? Only time will tell – but what’s clear is that borrowers are watching the market more closely than ever.”
He said: “For advisers there’s an opportunity to double down on proactive engagement, ensuring every lead is nurtured efficiently as summer brings softer demand.”
