Mortgage activity appears to be picking up, with a jump in the number of remortgage, purchase, first-time buyer and buy-to-let searches seen in October, compared with the previous month.

Figures from platform Twenty7tec show that there was a 9.02% increase in remortgage searches and a 6.1% increase in purchase mortgage searches in October when compared to September’s figures. Data from the technology firm shows that activity increased steadily throughout the month.

This increased confidence could be seen across most sectors, with  the number of broker searches for first-time buyer mortgages increasing by 7.8% month-on-month, while there was also a 7.01% increase in BTL mortgage searches during October. 

Twenty7tec is a platform used by more than half of mortgage advisers across the UK. Analysis of the searches undertaken show that shorter two-year fixes continue to be one of the most popular options, accounting for 46.2% of all fixed products searches last month. In contrast three- to five-year product searches accounted for 33.6% of these searches. 

With interest rates forecast to be close to their peak, it is perhaps not surprising there were fewer searches for longer term fixes, with five to 10 year mortgages accounting for just 20% of searches – this compares to 32.3% a year ago.

The data also shows that almost one in five mortgage searches were for properties valued at over £500,000. 

Twenty7tec director Nathan Reilly says: “The market was definitely busier in October than September 2023, but it wasn’t about peaks and troughs, but rather being slightly busier each and every day.”

He pointed out that product availability also peaked in October 2023, with the highest total number of products available to the market in at least a year. In total there were 17,788 products available at the end of October. Product availability is also at a 12-month high across all the major LTV ranges according to Twenty7tec. 

Reilly adds: “Searches for purchase mortgages beat searches for remortgages for 12 of the past 14 months. But, the volume of ESIS documents created for remortgages beat purchase documents for 11 of the past 14 months. The demand is clearly there for purchase, but remortgage is taking a lead.”