Encouraging signs for first-time buyers despite drop in market activity

The latest stats released by Twenty7tec this morning have shown that despite a dent in activity during May, lender confidence is on the up with a record volume of available products and stronger first-time buyer numbers than this time last year.

According to the adviser tech provider, purchase mortgage searches were down 8.0% in May 2024 compared to April 2024 but were up 7.16% compared to May 2023. Remortgage searches were down 25.24% compared to April 2024 and steady (down -0.43%) compared to May 2023.

Residential purchase mortgage searches were down 8.37% in May 2024 compared to April 2024, however, they were up 7.80% compared to May 2023. Residential remortgage searches saw a huge fall of 29.21% in May 2024 compared to April 2024 but still up 3.32% compared to May 2023.

Searches by first-time buyers were down 2.86% in May 2024 compared to April 2024 but were up 1.85% compared to May 2023.

Landlords

Buy-to-let purchase mortgage searches were down 7.15% in May 2024 compared to April 2024 but were up 6.12% compared to May 2023. Buy To Let remortgage searches were down 18.55% in May 2024 compared to April 2024 and were down 6.13% compared to May 2023.

Searches for fixed mortgage products in April 2024

Two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 45.63% of all fixed product searches (compared to 48.51% in May 2023)

Three- to five-year fixed mortgages accounted for 34.10% of all fixed product searches (compared to 34.09% in May 2023)

Five- to ten-year fixed mortgages now account for 20.28% of all fixed product searches (compared to 17.40% in April 2023)

Nathan Reilly, (pictured) director at Twenty7tec, said: “May 2024 saw lower activity levels due to a combination of two bank holidays, a Bank of England decision that deterred remortgages, a General Election announcement and maybe poorer weather that normally encourages a stronger May performance.

“But looking at the broader picture, 2024 has been an incredibly hot market for mortgage searches YTD - up one million searches on our systems compared to the same period last year.

“Lenders also have confidence in the market with more products available than ever before. We also have more products with max LTVs of 95%, 85%, 80% and 75% than ever before.

“Finally, fixed mortgage search volumes are now running at 111.46% of their long-term monthly average, as the market drifts away from two-year deals to five and even longer-term deals. Buyers increasingly want price certainty, it would seem.”