Monthly gross remortgage lending increased by £468m in January, to £4.27bn, according to LMS.
This is a monthly rise of 12% on December’s £3.8bn reported by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week, and 33% higher than January 2013.
The CML has also reported that total gross mortgage lending decreased to £15.5bn in January. As a result, remortgages represent 28% of the total market.
LMS estimates that the total number of remortgage loans increased significantly in January, rising by 11% to 28,134, compared with 25,300 in December. This figure is up by almost a fifth (16%) from this time last year, when there were only 24,200 remortgage customers recorded.
The average remortgage loan amount has seen a marginal increase (by 0.12%) over the past month and now stands at £151,708. This figure is however 7.2% higher than January 2013.
Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said: “2014 has raced out of the blocks and got off to a solid start, with remortgaging seeing sustained growth and gained an even larger share of the total market – now over a quarter at 28%.
“Gross remortgage lending and the number of remortgages taken out increased by 12% and 11% respectively in January, showing no signs of a post-festive lull. With hugely competitive rates on offer and continued interest from consumers, the next few months are sure to be a hot bed of activity.
“There was a decrease in the amount of equity being released from December to January – not altogether surprising following December’s particularly high figures helping people to cover the cost of Christmas.
“We fully expect 2014 to maintain this momentum ahead of new regulation coming into effect in April. However, while changes settle in we anticipate a slowdown, before picking up again later in the year.”
