"We saw the largest monthly drop in real terms (and in percentage terms) of mortgage products available since the pandemic-induced handbrake stop in March 2020"
Product availability is currently at 76.27% of pre-pandemic highs. Fixed mortgage searches remain at 85.83% of all-time highs, whereas stepped (56.87%), discount (45.87%), tracker (46.62%), capped (44.67%), variable (44.56%), and Libor (44.29%) are all performing well below their all-time highs.
However, monthly mortgage searches by advisers on Twenty7Tec's platform crept back up after June’s drop of 8.7%.
Searches for green mortgages continue to climb - seven out of the top ten busiest days ever for green mortgage searches were in July 2022. But mortgage searches continued to fall for properties valued at over £1m (down 2.7%).
James Tucker, founder and CEO of Twenty7Tec, said: “So far this year, we’ve seen 10.5m mortgage searches on the platform. That’s a month quicker than we hit the ten million search milestone in 2021. We’re predicting that 2022 will surpass 2020’s total mortgage search volumes by the middle of September. Bearing in mind how busy 2020 was, that’s quite an achievement. So far this year, we’ve processed one mortgage search every 1.8 seconds.
“Product availability is probably one of the key metrics this month. We’re now operating at around three quarters of the pre pandemic highs - down for the fourth month on the trot. We’ve also seen a much greater concentration towards fixed mortgages which are currently performing at around 85% of their all-time highs. Stepped mortgages are at 56% of their all time highs.
"But the availability of discount, tracker, capped, variable and Libor mortgages are all below 50% of their record highs. Both buyers and lenders are seeking greater certainty and the profile of products available reflects that.
“From end June to end July 2022 we saw the largest monthly drop in real terms (and in percentage terms) of mortgage products available since the pandemic-induced handbrake stop in March 2020 which saw the removal of around 3,000 products almost overnight.”
