"For the first time in five years, we saw lower overall volumes of mortgage searches in September than we did in August."
Almost half of all mortgage searches are now for fixed rates of two years and under - 47.4% this month compared to 22.5% this time last year - as house buyers wait for interest rates to drop, the latest figures from Twenty7tec show.
Two-year fixed rate mortgages accounted for 47.4% of all fixed product searches in September, while three to five-year fixes made up 32.4% of searches and five to 10-year rates accounted for 20.2%, compared to 36.0% a year ago.
The data also shows that September was the quietest month for mortgage searches in 2023, with purchase searches down 5.4% compared to August, remortgage searches down 0.2% and buy-to-let searches dropping by 6.2%.
Searches by first-time buyers were down 6.2% nationwide in September, the quietest month since November 2020.
Nathan Reilly, director at Twenty7tec, said: "For the first time in five years, we saw lower overall volumes of mortgage searches in September than we did in August. Perhaps that’s because people are hoping that rates have now peaked and that November’s Bank of England decision will bring stable news for the mortgage market?
“Setting aside December performance (the quietest month every year), September 2023 was the quietest month for mortgage searches since October 2021, and the quietest month for remortgages since June 2022. It was also the lowest month for total first-time buyer searches since November 2020.
“During September 2023, almost half of all fixed mortgage searches were for terms of two years and under as buyers looked to shorten the effects of current rates in the hope of lower rates in the medium term.
“Whilst we saw a contraction in total searches for property valued below £500,000, we saw 1.2% growth in mortgage searches for those above £500,000, especially those valued at more than £1m (2.8%).
“The interest rate decision prompted a spike in green mortgage searches but, unusually, it was driven by purchase mortgage searches rather than buy-to-let green mortgage searches.”
