"In December 2023, remortgage searches outperformed purchase searches for the third consecutive month."
- Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec
Searches by first-time buyers were down 39.6% nationwide in December compared to November, with the lowest proportion of first time-buyers in the market (15.83%) since May 2020 when the pandemic prevented house viewings, the latest statistics from Twenty7tec show.
Purchase mortgage searches were down 36.8% in December compared to November, while remortgage searches fell 29.3% and buy-to-let searches were down 32.8%.
However, as product numbers continue to rebound, the total volume of mortgage products is now at 94.32% of the highest-ever number of available products. Twenty7tec says that, as a result, December 2023 was busier than previous year-ends.
Two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 49.65% of all fixed product searches in December, with three to five-year fixes taking a 31.95% share and five to 10-year fixes accounting for 18.4%, the lowest proportion for at least three years.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, commented: "December is always a quieter month than November, but December 2023 was busier than prior year ends.
“January tends to be when we see a 70% rebound in the market compared to December. In fact, January normally outperforms the prior November too, so we are looking forward to a busy period in the run-up to the interest rate decision on 1 February 2024.
“In December 2023, remortgage searches outperformed purchase searches for the third consecutive month. In fact, we had the lowest proportion of purchase searches (as part of all mortgage searches) since October 2022.
“The figures in December were also impacted by the lowest proportion of first-time buyers in the market (15.83%) since May 2020 when the pandemic prevented house viewings.
“Homebuyers are looking shorter term; 49.65% of all fixed mortgage searches in December 20234 were for two years and under.
“In part driven by fewer first-time buyers in the market, December 2023 saw the highest ever average for combined incomes. Combined incomes broke the £80,000 average for the first time ever between Christmas and the New Year.
“In better news, we saw a rise of 2.18% rise in total mortgage product availability. The total volume of mortgage products is now at 94.32% of the highest-ever number of available products.
“Equally, December is normally a fallow period for self-employed mortgage searches. But things tend to pick up quickly in January as more and more self-employeds submit their tax returns ahead of the January 31st deadline.”
