Monthly gross remortgage lending fell by £462m in June to £3.5bn, according to latest figures from LMS.
This is down 11.7% on May’s £3.9bn reported by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week.
The CML has also reported that total gross mortgage lending rose 2.0% in June to £15.0bn, from £14.7bn in May. As a result, remortgages now represent 23% of the market.
LMS estimates that the total number of remortgage loans in June decreased by 13.9% to 23,316 compared with 27,087 in May. This figure is also down 2.1% on this time last year.
The average remortgage loan amount has risen by 2.6% over the past month and now stands at £149,514. This is the highest figure LMS has on record.
Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said: “Both the value of remortgage lending and the number of remortgagers fell for the first time since the beginning of the year in June. In contrast, gross mortgage lending continued to rise and as a result, remortgaging accounted for under a quarter (23%) of all transactions.
“However, remortgage customers were taking out a record amount of equity – the highest amount since January 2012. A fifth (20%) said they did so to fund home improvements, whilst a further 9% used the additional funds to pay off debts.
“With Mark Carney confirming that interest rates will not be rising for the time being, others who are considering remortgaging would do well to take advantage of the current deals, as there will be an avalanche of remortgage activity once interest rates do eventually increase.”
