Activity levels in the mortgage industry continued their slow recovery last week despite a well deserved and incredibly popular VE Day bank holiday.
If Friday’s bank holiday was discounted from the weekly totals, searches for mortgages had increased by 8.42 per cent and remortgage searches increased by 6.96 per cent up to Thursday May 8 according to mortgage data from Twenty7Tec.
Even with the bank holiday factored into the figures, weekly data for search volume had increased by 11.07 per cent on four weeks ago with the volume of documents up to the week ending Saturday May 9 falling by just 1.45per cent.
The total value of loans in the week ending May 9 was also up by 1.25 per cent on the figures from a month ago.
Although the total combined figures for both purchase and remortgages are 44.4 per cent down on pre-lockdown levels, activity is starting to increase and the gradual easement of social distancing restrictions is only likely to add additional vigour to the market.
James Tucker, CEO of mortgage technology provider Twenty7Tec, commented:
“This week’s figures are all in the red after the last couple of weeks’ recovery. In terms of total search volumes, we are currently at around 44.4% of pre-lockdown searches for purchase and remortgages combined.
“Remortgages, which have been propping up the market in terms of volumes, have dipped a little further and are basically flat compared to four weeks ago.
“However, this week’s figures were clearly affected by the VE Friday bank holiday. If we compare Mon-Thurs this week with the week prior then searches for purchase mortgages are actually up 8.42% and searches for remortgages are up 6.96%.
“The week ahead may show greater signs of whether or not the gentle recovery in our market continues.
“The housing and mortgage markets are looking for a greater clarity on exiting lockdown. The Prime Minister mentioned construction in his Sunday evening address to the nation, but our industry needs the detail to understand how all points along the chain in the housing and mortgage markets are expected to function.
“New builds should begin to flow through as and when construction works begin again. Sales will be mostly affected by physical viewings, which look more likely to be allowed under the new guidance. Then, in just a few short weeks, we might expect activity levels to pick up in the mortgage industry.”
