Mortgage activity slows ‘as borrowers expect rates to drop’

Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The latest LMS Monthly Remortgage Snapshot has been released, revealing remortgage market activity through December 2022.

Key stats:

  • £240 average monthly payment increase for those who remortgaged in December
  • 43% of borrowers increased their loan size in December
  • 67% of those who remortgaged took out a 5-year fixed rate product, the most popular product in December
  • 35% said their main aim when remortgaging was to gain longer-term security, the most popular response

“Mortgage activity slowed in December as borrowers expect rates to drop in the new year,” said Nick Chadbourne, CEO, LMS.

He continued: “While all metrics fell in December, this is somewhat unsurprising. The quieter month was both seasonal and down to the fact that the majority of borrowers were holding out to see what the new year would bring. Those who did remortgage were looking for longer term security as is evident by over two-thirds of them locking in five-year fixed rates.

“Moving forwards, we’re likely to see the market stabilise – the economy will likely steady in 2023 following the political volatility that dominated the last year. Mortgage rates are expected to reduce at the beginning of the year before settling back into previous dynamics against the base rate movements. Borrowers should therefore expect the first half of 2023 to bring the lowest prices for the foreseeable future and aim to lock these in while they still last.”

To view the full remortgage snapshot, click here.

Via @PropertyIndustryEye