The last week of September was the busiest week ever for mortgage searches, according to Twenty7Tec’s latest mortgage market findings. 

It was revealed last week that 27 September was the single busiest day for mortgage searches ever, with 101,620 queries taking place on Twenty7Tec’s platform.

The latest findings show that the month’s searches for fixed mortgages were at 95.94% of their all time high.

Green mortgages were also popular throughout the month, with four of the top six days ever of a seven-day rolling basis last month.

First-time buyers (FTBs) formed the lowest proportion of the market since the end of the first Covid lockdown in the UK.

Meanwhile, the highest growth for mortgage searches by property valuation was in the £1m+ market where there were 18.73% more mortgage searches than in the prior month.

September also saw the five busiest ever days for mortgage searches by the self-employed, while mortgage searches by those who are retired also had the two busiest ever days in the last week of the month. 

The end of September set a new record for the average combined salaries for mortgage hunters with £71,487 on 30 September.

The month ended with the lowest number of products available since Twenty7Tec started reporting – including the pandemic period when lenders scaled back their product volumes.

Twenty7Tec revealed that there were 7,356 mortgage products on its system on 30 September, a 51.6% decline compared to 1 October 2021. 

The month ended 51:49 for purchase versus remortgages. Data showed that the first half of the month was 55:45 purchase, while the second half was 55:45 remortgage.

For producing European Standardised Information Sheet (ESIS) documents, the four busiest ever days were the last four days in September. 

It found that eight of the 10 busiest days ever for remortgage ESIS documents were also last month.

Twenty7Tec chief executive James Tucker says: “It’s hard to explain the magnitude of mortgage market activity in September 2022 as we set so many records on our platform and as an industry.”

“The first half of the month was busy, but the second half was far busier as the market reacted to the mini-budget and withdrew products just as demand sky-rocketed in light of the stamp duty changes and the need for more searches because of the daily changes in product availability.”

“One thing is clear to me: the market coped admirably well at the volume of change and demonstrated the kind of fortitude that got us through prior challenges so well.”