The number of remortgagors in July nearly matched new property purchases.
Data from Twenty7tec demonstrates that more people are refinancing rather than climbing the property ladder.
In July advisers handled 885,774 remortgage searches compared with 938,060 purchase searches – meaning the ratio of remortgage searches to purchase was 94% of purchase volumes, up from 75.4% in the same month last year.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, said: “Rising costs, rate uncertainty and stretched affordability are all reshaping homeowner behaviour – and the data shows it. Homeowners are increasingly choosing to stay put and refinance rather than take on the financial and logistical challenges of moving.
“Many are opting to reinvest in their current property instead. Higher mortgage rates have also made upsizing harder, particularly for those who locked in ultra-low deals just a few years ago.
“On top of that, with many buyers getting onto the property ladder later in life, their focus is often on securing rate certainty, reducing monthly payments, or releasing equity – not moving up the ladder at speed.”
It’s a far cry from 2021, during the pandemic, when remortgaging accounted for just 56% of purchase volumes.
At the time a stamp duty holiday was in place which meant no buyer tax was paid on the first £500,000 of a property, incentivising new purchases.
Reilly added: “The remortgage market is on the up, and advisers need to take note. They need to be maximising opportunities by speaking to their clients much earlier in the mortgage cycle, utilising their CRM systems to their full potential, not just building on client relationships but supercharging them.
“For lenders, making product switching quick and frictionless is vital – and that means working closely with advisers to ensure the right data flows seamlessly. In a market where more people are staying put, the winners will be those who use data intelligently to keep the customers they’ve already won.”
