The latest report from technology firm, Mortgage Brain, revealed more European Standardised Information Sheets (ESIS) were generated through its sourcing systems in July than any other month in 2020.
When looking at these volumes per working day, the figures for July were just behind the peak experienced in February, Mortgage Brain revealed.
But, as a whole, July was the ‘most productive month’ of the year to date, with Mortgage Brain attributing the increase to strong demand from purchasers.
It said residential purchase ESIS have been around 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels for six consecutive weeks while buy-to-let volumes were 7% above the average seen before Covid-19 for nine weeks in a row.
The positive data comes in the same week Twenty7Tech revealed searches had increased in July to buoyant levels and just after Nationwide’s report of a house price bounce back in the same month.
Mark Lofthouse, CEO of Mortgage Brain, said: “It is little short of extraordinary that we have seen such a bumper July.
“ESIS volumes have been trending healthily upwards for some time, a clear demonstration of just how strong demand to buy is from both owner occupiers and property investors. This is traditionally a quieter time for the market, so it will be interesting to see if this momentum is maintained over the summer.”
Product numbers drop
Lofthouse warned, however, product numbers remained a concern. Mortgage Brain’s figures showed they had fallen for four consecutive weeks, dropping 1.3% last week to stand at 8,857.
They are now down by 39.6% on the nine-week average to 16 March, but are up by 19.3% on the lowest point seen during the crisis.
Lofthouse added: “While they have dropped by only modest amounts over the last four weeks, the fact is that brokers and their clients now have 4.4% fewer deals to choose from than a month ago, and almost 40% fewer than in the days before the pandemic.”
Mortgage Brain also reported lending at the highest LTVs was steady, with ESIS volumes for cases at 80% to 85% LTV remaining at around 9% higher than pre-Covid levels for seven consecutive weeks.
They now accounted for almost a quarter of all ESIS produced.
