"July 2023 saw constrained activity compared to the prior month and I think that the market is hoping for better news for the remainder of the second half of the year."
July 2023 was the second quietest month for mortgage searches in 2023, according to the latest figures from Twenty7tec.
Its data shows that purchase mortgage searches were down 13.1% in July compared to June, while remortgage searches fell by 15% and buy-to-let searches were down 18.3%.
First-time buyer searches were down 9.3% compared to June, however first-time buyers as a percentage of the market nudged upwards from their significant lows in June 2023.
Two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 44.1% of all fixed product searches, compared to just 22.45% in June.
Three to five-year fixed mortgages now account for 34.55% of all searches (compared to 41.58% a year ago) and five to ten-year fixed mortgages now account for 21.38% compared to 35.97% a year ago.
The research also shows that total product availability grew by 13.8% over the month.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, said: “July 2023 saw constrained activity compared to the prior month and I think that the market is hoping for better news for the remainder of the second half of the year. It tends to be a little flatter in June and July as heads turn to holidays, with an uptick often beginning in August.
“It’s not all doom and gloom, however: despite dropping 15% compared to the prior month, July 2023 was the fourth busiest month on record for remortgage ESIS documents and seventh for total remortgage searches.
“In keeping with prior years, we saw an almost 10% drop in the number of first-time buyers’ searches nationwide alongside a 3.9% drop in the average property value they are looking to buy in July 2023.
“Brokers and advisers will continue to feel busier as the average number of searches run per ESIS document produced is also significantly higher than the prior month.
“On the supply side, we saw a 13.78% rise in mortgage product availability. There have never been more max LTV 70% products in the market, whereas max LTV 95% products are only at 69.82% of their all-time high availability.”
