Purchase mortgage searches increased by 2.9% from September 2024, while remortgage searches rose by 1.4%, according to Twenty7tec’s mortgage market statistics for October 2024.
Buy-to-let (BTL) purchase searches were up by 3.0%, and buy-to-let remortgage searches remained unchanged.
Residential purchase searches grew by 2.5%, and residential remortgage searches saw an increase of 2.2%. Searches by first-time buyers climbed by 5.38%.
Compared to October 2023, purchase mortgage searches increased by 23.69%, and remortgage searches were up by 3.16%.
Buy-to-let purchase searches rose by 18.37%, while buy-to-let remortgage searches increased by 9.52%.
Residential purchase searches saw a 26.01% rise, and residential remortgage searches were up by 1.33%. Searches from first-time buyers rose by 9.99%.
In terms of fixed mortgage products, 2-year fixed mortgages accounted for 40.51% of searches compared to 46.22% in October 2023.
3-year to 5-year fixed mortgages made up 35.18% of searches, up from 33.62%; 5-year to 10-year fixed mortgages represented 24.31%, an increase from 20.16% a year earlier.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, said: “We saw month-on-month gains across the board last month, with purchase and remortgage searches both up and buy-to-let and first-time buyer searches also up.
“But the month had two definite parts: the first half characterised by record-setting for product availability, and the second for fewer ESIS documents being prepared as the market held its breath for the Budget and the subsequent Bank of England rate decision on November 7th.
“None of the days in the second half of October ranked in the top 130 busiest days this year.
“Equally, by month end, the total number of products available had fallen away by 1.93% to leave it 462 products down on the prior month end.
“This was the first month-on-month fall in total products since June 2023.”
Reilly added: “For advisers, it has been a purchase market since March this year, in other words, the volumes of purchase ESIS documents prepared outstrip the volume of remortgage ESIS documents.
“But it is narrowing again a little now at 55:45, having previously peaked at 57.5:52.5 in July 2024.
“By the end of November, we predict that 2024 will surpass the annual total number of mortgage searches for 2023 with a month to spare.
“It’s been a busy year for advisers, and we’re highly likely to see new records set when we do the year in review.”
