Remortgaging customers 'wait to 2011'

Date:Monday 18th January 2010
Author: Susanna Kavka

Consumers who are looking to remortgage their properties are putting it off until next year, according to one specialist.

The biggest issue to affect the market at present is the low numbers who are looking to remortgage their property, as the number of new buyers has continued to increase, Gary Styles, strategy, risk and economics director at Hometrack, has stated.

Companies have targeted mortgage lending on first-time buyers as the government has set targets for them to reach on the number of products they must give to new customers.

However, the market for people who want to remortgage their property is likely to pick up again once interest rates have risen, Mr Styles believes, although this may not take place until 2011.

His comments follow the statistics published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders which showed that, despite a seasonal dip in November, the number of mortgages given out fell by four per cent compared with the previous month.

In the same period, the number of remortgages fell by six per cent, a 39 per cent drop from the previous year.