The overall confidence mean figure has risen from 1.67 in June to 1.82 for this quarter. This is the highest mean score since March last year and highlights a significant increase in confidence. More than half of participants had an optimistic view of the current homebuyer market with 43 per cent indicating they felt ‘positive’ and a further 13 per cent ‘very positive’.
Overall business activity has remained at a similar level as the last quarter with the majority of panellists stating activity had increased; 26 per cent indicated it had stayed the same as the last quarter; and less than a fifth had experienced a decrease.
An increase is also apparent in terms of incoming new business, albeit a slight one. 1 per cent more respondents said they had written more mortgages than the previous quarter, bringing the total to 57 per cent from 56 per cent in June.
According to the index, a significant majority of participants have a positive outlook regarding the market and business activity in the next 12 months. 70 per cent of respondents indicated they expected overall business activity to rise in 12 months’ time. Although this is down from the 72 per cent seen in the last quarter, the overall results indicate a very positive outlook for the year ahead.
Other results revealed customer service as the primary reason for selecting a preferred mortgage provider. There has also been little change to the products most advised on which are repayment, fixed and remortgage. Halifax, Nationwide, Abbey and Northern Rock remain at the top of the table as the most popular providers
