The data shows that mortgage search volumes are currently at 83.89% of the year’s highest figure.
Looking to buy-to-let mortgage searches, this figure is at 94.45% of the year’s high, and up 0.3% on a weekly basis.
Weekly residential mortgage search volumes were at 81.48% of the year’s high, down 5.2% on the week before
Furthermore, weekly mortgage ESIS documentation figures are up for both the residential and buy-to-let sectors.
Weekly BTL mortgage ESIS documentation figures are currently at 95.2% of the year’s highest figures and have increased 6.7% on the previous week.
James Tucker, chief executive of Twenty7Tec, said: “Overall this week, we’re down on search volumes and up on documentation volumes. Buy-to-let in particular has had a stronger week and now accounts for 20.66% of all searches and 22.43% of all documentation.
“Tuesday 24 November was the year’s third highest day for buy-to-let ESIS documents.
“The search for residential mortgages has definitely slowed a little this week. We anticipate, however, that as soon as there’s greater certainty, that the volumes will return to some extent.
“Another downward pressure is, of course, the end of the stamp duty period.
“Search volumes today are affected by completions not being possible by financial year end. Unemployment and the economic forecast have also provided some downward pressure on volumes.
“Normally, we would expect this time of year to be being pushed higher in the traditional 10-week busy period running up to Christmas. This year is, inevitably, different and so we’ll have to see if there’s greater certainty after the prime minister has declared today which areas are in which tiers of lockdown.
“We’d anticipate that there’d be a slight dip in volumes for those areas in the highest restrictions, matched by a bounce back a few days later.”
