Remortgage applications reach two-year high
Friday, 18 February 2011 2:05 PM
The volume of remortgage applications in Britain last month reached its highest level in two years, according to the UK's largest broker Countrywide.
Speculation of an impending increase in the Bank of England base rate saw remortgage requests account for 32 per cent of all home loan applications in January 2011 – up five per cent from the previous month.
Countrywide found that three in ten of its most popular offerings were remortgage products, with customers providing an average deposit of 32 per cent, which gave them a typical interest rate of 3.26 per cent.
Fixed-rate deals made up 84 per cent of all applications in January – a nine per cent increase on December, when fixed home loans hit their highest volume since August 2009.
Grenville Turner, chief executive of Countrywide, commented: "The growing popularity of fixed-rate mortgage products is a telling sign that many are prepared to pay slightly more to give themselves peace of mind and stability with regards to their outgoings.
"Overall, the reality is that for the last two years, only those that have had to move have done so. Discretionary movers, who typically make up somewhere around half of all transactions, are beginning to evaluate whether this is now the time to make a move," he added.
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