The Mortgage Advice Bureau has reported the total value of its mortgage applications in quarter one this year rose by 26% compared to the previous year and in the four months after the scheme’s launch this rose to 69% compared to 2012.
Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “The newfound momentum in the mortgage arena is visibly attracting more borrowers helped by government initiatives including the Funding for Lending Scheme and Help to Buy.
“Both purchase and remortgage activity have dramatically improved and the latest residential market survey from RICS shows consumer confidence continues to rise.”
He said that, because of the increasing range of options available to them, consumers were increasingly turning to brokers to help them make the correct decision.
Last month MAB recorded an 82% annual increase in mortgage business with £554.7m worth of applications making July 2013 its busiest month since the company was established in 2000.
In contrast the mortgage market as a whole has experienced a 7% year-on-year rise in total gross lending for 2013 to date yet industry data shows brokers are benefitting from an increasing share of business across the market.
The Council of Mortgage Lender’s data on the intermediary market showed that from January to June this year compared to last year, broker market share for remortgages rose from 47% to 57%, home movers increased from 46% to 51% and the first-time buyer market share grew slightly from 55% to 56%.
Brodnicki said that the combination of an improving economic landscape and unprecedented demand has helped MAB to deliver record business volumes making 2013 set to be a landmark year both for MAB and the wider market.
