Re-mortgage approvals increased by 37,400 in June, as homeowners moved to secure attractive fixed-rate deals ahead of the Bank of England’s (BoE) much-anticipated interest rate increase.
According to the latest data from UK Finance, the number of new re-mortgages approved in June was up 8.4 per cent year-on-year.
In total, £6.8 billion worth of re-mortgages were approved – representative of a 13.3 per cent increase in value over figures recorded in June 2017, the figures reveal.
Sadly, however, first-time buyer borrowing and home-mover numbers fell slightly over the course of the month, which saw a 7.9 per cent decrease in home-mover mortgage completions and a 3.6 per cent fall in first-time buyer completions.
Commenting on the data, Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance said: “Re-mortgaging continued to dominate in June, with borrowing figures up 13 per cent on the same period last year as existing two and three-year products came to an end and borrowers opted for new deals.
“Despite a boost in recent months, speculation of a base rate rise saw the market remain relatively subdued with year-on-year declines in activity among both first-time buyers and home-movers as customers adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
Brian Murphy of the Mortgage Advice Bureau suggested that buyers were proceeding with caution due to political uncertainties surrounding Brexit.