The quarterly study by My Mortgage Direct, revealed a significant increase in movers for the first quarter of 2006 (January-March), up 15 per cent from quarter four of 2005. This figure more than doubled the results from the same quarter in 2005.
Cath Hearnden, director at My Mortgage Direct, said current market conditions made moving a viable option. She explained: “Borrowers are being more considered and cautious than in recent years. They’ve waited and watched and now believe they won’t get any sudden nasty rate rise shocks.” She added that, with the continued stability of the Bank of England Base Rate, more people would take the opportunity to move property, and therefore climb further up the housing ladder.
However, as an increasing number of homeowners have opted to move, the report revealed the remortgage market has suffered. The number of remortgages dropped in quarter one of 2006 and first-time buyer numbers also fell in quarter one, after a positive market in 2005. “Last year saw a strong remortgage market and first-time buyers were also back in the frame, but this alone is not enough to sustain the market,” Hearden added.
Phil Perry, director at Ark Financial Services, agreed that borrowers were becoming more financially astute, with a greater knowledge of the product they wanted. He said: “Over the past week or so there has been an increase in enquiries from all sides; remortgages, first-time buyers and movers, but there is definitely more people switched on to the different types of mortgage deals available.”
Perry added many potential first-time buyers were held back as they did not have a large enough deposit. He commented: “Mortgage lenders are thinking of ways to help people get in to the market and switching to affordability based calculations has helped first-time buyers, as have first-time buyer-specific mortgage deals.”
