BTL remortgage searches rose 34% in September, according to Twenty7tec's latest Mortgage Market Snapshot, while BTL purchase searches stayed 21% below the same month last year.
Overall BTL searches rose 27% month on month to around 295,000, but the annual picture remained divided. Total BTL activity ran 4% below last September, whereas BTL remortgage searches sat 4% higher on the year.
Across all products, Twenty7tec recorded more than 1.9 million mortgage searches in September, up 23% from August and 15% on the same month last year.
Residential
Residential remortgage searches rose faster than BTL remortgage searches. Twenty7tec recorded around 861,000 in September, up 40% in a month and 44% year on year. Residential searches overall rose 22% month on month and 19% year on year. Borrowers returned to the market after a quieter summer, according to the firm.
"Remortgaging is doing a huge amount of the work," said Nathan Reilly, chief customer officer at Twenty7tec.
"Searches increased 40% in a month and are 44% higher than this time last year. When we see growth on that scale, it tells us that existing homeowners reviewing their borrowing are becoming an increasingly important part of adviser workloads."
The increase comes as borrowers face renewed uncertainty over mortgage pricing. The Bank of England held the Bank Rate at 3.75% in September, with three Monetary Policy Committee members voting for a rise.
The Bank also reported that quoted two-year fixed mortgage rates sat around 95 basis points above their level before the recent energy shock. Major lenders raised fixed pricing during September, with some rates up by as much as 0.3 percentage points.
Bank of England figures published at the end of September showed the effective rate on newly drawn mortgages rising from 4.45% in July to 4.60% in August, while the rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages reached 4.00%. Previous market analysis has suggested around 700,000 further households could need to refinance before the end of the year, following about one million borrowers whose fixed deals ended after February.
Purchase activity
Homebuyer searches rose more modestly. Residential purchase searches reached around 618,000 in September, up 8% from August and 1% year on year. First-time buyer searches rose 3% month on month to around 139,000, but sat 4% below last September.
The wider housing market is softer. HMRC figures showed seasonally adjusted residential transactions 2% lower year on year in August, while Bank of England data showed house purchase approvals falling to 54,900, their lowest level since 2023.
