This is according to the latest Mortgage Market Tracker from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) which discovered fears over what might happen at the end of furlough were also impacting brokers’ sentiment towards the market.

Overall, Q3 and the coinciding stamp duty holiday which created record demand for properties brought much to be positive about for the 300 brokers quizzed. IMLA said 82% were either ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ confident about the sector’s prospects – the same percentage as in the first two quarters of 2020 and despite the global pandemic.

The data revealed brokers were growing in confidence about the future of the intermediary market. The survey discovered 94% were upbeat about the sector, compared to 88% in Q2.

Mortgage intermediaries were also increasingly positive about the future of their own businesses with 95% saying they were either ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ confident.

Case numbers rising

The Mortgage Market Tracker also found the average number of cases intermediaries were handling each month increased again from 86 in Q2 to 90 in Q3.

Of the cases brokers were handling, 65% were residential and 28% were buy-to-let, while 10% of residential applications were for product transfers.

But in spite of the huge and ongoing demand and positivity, IMLA found confidence had begun to decline in September.

Indeed, the proportion of brokers feeling upbeat about the wider mortgage market was 84% in August.

However, as Covid-19 cases were on the rise, local lockdowns began and the prospect of a second wave of the virus loomed, confidence fell to 77% in September.

Concerns over stricter lending criteria, economic uncertainty and fears about a cliff edge with the end of furlough –at the time set for 31 October – abound. Figures showed the average number of cases brokers handled fell from 94 in August to 81.

Kate Davies, executive director of IMLA said: “Demand is still high in the mortgage market as consumers try to take advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday, but brokers are clearly treading with caution.

“Intermediaries were already feeling less confident about the market in September, with a second wave of COVID-19 on the horizon and now England has moved back into a second lockdown.

Keeping busy

“The good news is that the housing market remains open and buyers eager to move can still press ahead with their plans. This is keeping brokers and lenders incredibly busy and facing their own challenges to manage capacity, but it also means that the housing market remains a driving force in the economy.

“However, next year the market still faces a significant challenge with a triple deadline on 31 March 2021, as the current Help to Buy scheme, furlough and the Stamp Duty holiday all come to an end.

“The prospect of this cliff-edge moment means that working together as an industry – lenders, intermediaries, conveyancers and surveyors – is all the more important as we try to manage the  surge in demand with buyers rushing to complete before it’s too late.”