"Activity levels dropped off across all major indicators in August this year, mainly driven by a focus from all stakeholders on the home-moving market"
Month on month, completion volumes fell by 14%, with pipeline volumes decreasing by 18% as volumes dropped off.
The cancellation rate stayed steady between July and August, falling by just 0.3%.
Of those who did remortgage, 42% increased their loan size in August.
Nick Chadbourne, CEO of LMS, commented: “Activity levels dropped off across all major indicators in August this year, mainly driven by a focus from all stakeholders on the home-moving market as borrowers look to make the most of the temporary stamp duty changes.
"We also have a spike of product expiries at the end of the year rather than the usual October increase. This may lead to a flurry of remortgage activity towards the end of the year as borrowers look to secure a new fixed rate deal. It will be the continued development and adoption of security and tech solutions that will be key in helping brokers and lenders manage the spikes in activity come the end of the year.
“Taking a deeper look into customer borrowing habits, it is promising to see that half of borrowers who chose to remortgage in August saw a significant decrease of just over £200 in their monthly payments. This comes as lenders continue to offer attractively priced fixed-rate packages as they pass their lower borrowing costs onto customers. This will come as a welcome relief to borrowers looking to remortgage to reduce outgoings as the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19 continues, and the end of many government support schemes come into sight.”
