Fall in mortgage sales signals market volatility

August 29, 2017 by Brendan

Property Market

According to a report by Equifax Touchstone, mortgage sales fell during July this year, by £1.8bn, which is 10.8% lower than June’s sales.

The report shows that the value of residential mortgage sales fell to £12.2bn, a 12.8% reduction, while buy-to-let mortgages fell to £2.6bn, a 0.2% fall. A significant reduction in sales was experienced throughout the UK, with the biggest fall being in Scotland, at 19.8%. The next biggest reduction was in Northern Ireland, with a drop in sales of 18.5%, while the South East experienced a fall of 15.4%.

However, overall mortgage sales for the UK had risen by 10.8% to reach £14.8bn. The director of Equifax Touchstone, John Driscoll, said that the data demonstrated the current volatility of the mortgage market. He added that sales in July had fallen due to buyers being concerned by the gap between growth in wages and inflation, an uncertain economy, and political unrest. According to Driscoll, this could be further impacted by the potential for an increase in interest rates, as soon as September.

The director of Harris Financial Advice, Matthew Harris, said:

“I would say we have seen a decrease in our mortgage business, which is due to a few factors such as uncertainty over Brexit and the impact filtering through to the market of higher stamp duty rates in Scotland putting a lot of people off moving, and the continued impact of the buy-to-let changes.”

Mortgage advisors spend a considerable amount of time studying on a CeMAP training course, so that they can help buyers to secure a suitable mortgage.