Mortgage market statistics for November 2024 show that searches for buy-to-let mortgages fell by 11.1% from the previous month, searches for refinancing mortgages fell by 8.6% and searches for buy-to-let mortgages fell by 14.60%.
This is evident from Twenty7tec’s latest Mortgage Market Activity Report, which also shows that the number of mortgage renewal applications fell by 6.5%; The number of searches for home refinancing fell by 8.6% and the number of searches by first-time buyers on the housing market fell by 9.2%.
However, in November 2024, purchase mortgage searches increased by 10.39%, compared to November 2023; Searches for mortgages for home purchase increased by 12.36%; searches by first-time homebuyers increased by 0.45% and searches for buy-to-let mortgages increased by 0.04%.
The number of refinancings in October and November (a total of 1,401,748 searches) decreased by 5.84% compared to 2023 and by -4.99% compared to 2022
Commenting on the latest figures, Twenty7tec managing director Nathan Reilly said: “Mortgage market activity in November was clearly lower almost across the board than in October 2024. But there was also a shift in the market’s outlook as there there was a fairly large increase (61.3%) in the total number of searches for fixed mortgages with an initial term of less than two years. That says something about what consumers expect to happen next.
“Although activity fell in November, this must be viewed in the broader context: around noon on November 28, current year totals surpassed mortgage applications for 2023, with over a month remaining. However, there is nuance to these figures, as the market has not been as busy handling mortgages for first-time buyers this year, while with a month to go, volumes are still more than 100,000 lower than in 2023.”
Reilly pointed out that the self-employed market had its busiest year on record with 1,223,140 mortgage searches. The market is already up 1.97% from 2023 with a month left.
“There have been more than 100,000 searches for mortgages for the self-employed every month this year, with more than 100,000 searches for the self-employed taking place in five months in 2023 and four months in 2022. Before that, we didn’t have months with more than 100,000 searches for standalone mortgages.
Looking at the total twelve-month period, he added: “This year has already overtaken 2023 as the busiest year on record for mortgage searches. The relative slowdown in October and November has increased in the first quarter, with particularly strong performances in January, February and March 2024.”