Purchase mortgage searches were down 18.3% in April when compared to March, according to the latest research from Twenty7tec.
The adviser tech provider has revealed its mortgage market statistics for April 2023, and reports that remortgage searches were even harder hit – down 25.4% compared to the month prior.
Buy-to-let mortgage searches were also down 23.4%, and searches by first-time buyers were down 16.4% nationwide.
However, the research also found that purchase mortgages and first-time buyers both represented a larger proportion of the market than in the prior month.
Searches for fixed mortgage products took a particular hit. April saw 130,000 fewer 2-year fixed mortgage searches than in the previous month, 128,000 fewer 5-year fixed mortgage searches and 105,000 fewer 10-year fixed mortgage searches.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, said: “Easter 2023 had a major impact on mortgage search volumes. It’s quite likely that May will see similar downward pressures given the three bank holidays.
“Fixed product searches in particular have taken a hit. April 2023 saw total fixed product searches at only 79.06% of their all-time monthly high.”
He added: “In April 2023, fixed product searches represented 44.9% of all mortgage searches, well ahead of the long-term average of 40.5%, but considerably lower than large periods of last year when fixed products often represented over 50% of all mortgage searches.”.
