Mortgage searches were also up on a monthly basis by 2.9%.

Remortgage searches were up 1.4% compared to the month prior and were up 3.16% compared to the same period last year.

The figures also reveal that buy to let (BTL) purchase mortgage searches were up 3.0% in October 2024 compared to the previous month and were up 18.37% compared to October last year.

BTL remortgage searches remained static in October and were up 9.52% compared to the same period last year.

Searches by first time buyers were up 5.38% in October 2024 compared to September and were up 9.99% compared to October last year.

Meanwhile, two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 40.51% of all fixed product searches last month compared to 46.22% in October last year.

Three- to five-year fixed mortgages accounted for 35.18% of all fixed product searches compared to 33.62% in the same period last year.

And five- to 10-year fixed mortgages now account for 24.31% of all fixed product searches compared to 20.16% in October 2024.

Twenty7tec director Nathan Reilly says: “We saw month-on-month gains across the board last month, with purchase and remortgage searches both up and Buy To Let and First Time Buyer searches also up.”

“But the month had two definite parts: the first half characterised by record-setting for product availability, and the second for fewer ESIS documents being prepared as the market held its breath for the Budget and the subsequent Bank of England rate decision on November 7th. None of the days in the second half of October ranked in the top 130 busiest days this year.”

“Equally, by month end, the total number of products available had fallen away by 1.93% to leave it 462 products down on the prior month end. This was the first month-on-month fall in total products since June 2023.

“For advisers, it has been a purchase market since March this year, in other words, the volumes of purchase ESIS documents prepared outstrip the volume of remortgage ESIS documents. But it is narrowing again a little now at 55:45, having previously peaked at 57.5:52.5 in July 2024.”

“By the end of November, we predict that 2024 will surpass the annual total number of mortgage searches for 2023 with a month to spare. It’s been a busy year for advisers, and we’re highly likely to see new records set when we do the year in review.”