Three quarters (76%) of brokers reported more demand for 5-year fixes in the first six months of the year, while seven in 10 (69%) lenders said the same.
Remortgage demand increased ahead of the base rate rise, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association’s Mortgage Market Tracker has indicated.
Three quarters (76%) of brokers reported more demand for 5-year fixes in the first six months of the year, while seven in 10 (69%) lenders said the same.
Nearly nine in 10 (88%) remortgage applications resulted in an offer in the third quarter of 2017 – up from 80% the year before.
Peter Williams (pictured), executive director of IMLA, said: “After a decade of record low interest rates, the timing of a possible rise was widely debated before November’s decision, both within the Bank of England and in the mortgage market, and this was clearly resonated in homes across the UK too.
“As a rise became more of a certainty, significant numbers of homeowners have rushed to secure fixed rate mortgages priced to a 0.25% Bank rate for the next two, three, five or even 10 years.
“While customers who remain on tracker and standard variable rates are now adjusting to the first increase in monthly loan repayments in the last ten years, unwavering borrower demand and lender supply should maintain competitive residential loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage pricing in what is now a -rate rise environment.
“Despite uncertainty in the wider economy, our data also shows the intermediary channel continuing its recent success in matching consumers with suitable products, helped by strong competition and appetite to lend within the boundaries of careful affordability rules.”
