The latest Young Index results from Young Group show that buy-to-let investors doubt they can get a better mortgage deal at the present time.
Results from the Q2 2009 survey of investor market sentiment show that fewer than one in four of residential property investors are tracking their mortgage options on a regular basis. Only 24% of respondents now evaluate their mortgages at least every six months, compared to more than 80% of investors who were actively tracking new deals this time last year.
Back in Q2 2008, 65% of investors were evaluating their mortgage options as regularly as every three months, but in the past 12 months this has plummeted to just 12%. At the end of Q2 2009, 32% of investors admitted to evaluating their mortgages less frequently than once a year.
Neil Young, CEO of Young Group, said: "With the base rate at such a low level compared to its long term average, many people have stopped reviewing the different mortgage options available to them as regularly as they once did.
"Just because there are fewer mortgage products available, investors shouldn’t take their eye off the ball. Arguably, now is the time to be paying MORE attention to the mortgage market to avoid the risk of losing out when base rate inevitably rises in the future.
"Rates for new mortgage products can change rapidly and to make the best of their own specific circumstances borrowers need to keep on top of the market: The deals with the most attractive rates and criteria are often fully subscribed within just a few days of being released."
The Young Index is a quarterly gauge of market sentiment within the buy-to-let sector, polling Young Group’s client base of around 500 active investors who hold UK investment property.