Fear breathes new lease of life into remortgage market
Published: 17/04/2012
Remortgage advice is at its highest level since 2008, according to the latest search data from Unbiased.co.uk.
37 per cent of homeowners who entered the Internet search term “find a mortgage adviser” were looking for remortgage advice. This is up 6 per cent year-on-year and represents the highest level of demand since the IFA’s website report began in 2008.
The findings are supported by an additional survey conducted by surveyors, Connells Survey and Valuations, which reported a 37 per cent year-on-year increase of remortgage valuations for Q1 2012.
Karan Barrett is the Chief Executive of Unbiased.co.uk. She believes the recent decline in deals and hike in rates has prompted homeowners to lock in a lower rate deal before borrowing opportunities narrow:
“Our consumer search has seen an increase in the number of people searching for remortgage advice, indicating borrowers who are worried about lending criteria getting tighter are now taking the opportunity to ensure they can obtain the best rate before it becomes harder to switch to a better deal.
“The FSA is moving to clamp down on irresponsible lending but their proposals, published at the end of last year, will affect millions of existing homeowners who are looking to obtain a better rate when their current deal ends.
“New rules will affect the 11.2 million households stuck on interest-only, as well as more than a million borrowers who have been hit by the recent spate of lenders announcing mortgage rate increases.”¹
Content correct at time of publication