Rise In Mortgage Products Positive Sign
While news that the Government has re-opened the housing market has received mixed opinions, there is no denying that it is a positive sign for the long-term future of the market. While people must follow social distancing guidelines, and stay safe, the sooner firms and people move forward, the better for many reasons.
There has been a demand for the housing market, and initial figures provided by Rightmove suggest many people were waiting to move.
- For the day the property market re-opened, there was a 111% week-on-week increase in new sales listings
- The number of unique enquiry demand from the day before the market to the day the market opened doubled, and was just 10% less than the same day in 2019
Rightmove property expert, Miles Shipside, said; “Unique enquiries on property for sale doubled from the day before, though we expect consistent momentum to rebuild over several months rather than weeks. With no new seller asking price data it’s too early to comment on price movements, though high demand is needed to support a stable market.”
Many factors influence people’s ability to buy, and the number of mortgage products available in the market is a crucial element. Miles Shipside also spoke about mortgage options supporting the marketing, saying; “If there are attractive lower deposit mortgages available it would help sustain the recovery in activity. The industry has been caught by surprise, as we were all expecting the housing market to stay closed until at least June.”
The housing market is evolving all the time, and there will likely be changes to what buyers want in a home. There is a strong chance that gardens and home-office space will become crucial factors for people looking for their next house. Also, if more people can work remotely, there is a chance that city or town-centre living becomes less appealing for many households.
All these factors will influence buyer behaviour, but as Rightmove suggested, mortgage products shape the market. A recent review of the market undertaken by Mortgage Brain indicates the number of mortgage products available is rising throughout the lockdown.
For the last week of April, there was an increase of 5.9% for mortgage products available on the market. At this point, there were 8,044 mortgage products available, which was a rise of 488 on the previous week. Crucially, this was also the second consecutive rise, indicating the mortgage market is moving in the right direction.
Kevin Dunn is a Director at Furnley House, and he said; “Last week we thankfully saw the return to the market of some higher loan to value deals from some of the bigger lenders. Hopefully this will have a ripple effect to give other lenders the confidence to return more products to the market too. There are definitely some green shoots to suggest the market is slowly coming back.” Applying for a mortgage is the last thing many people are considering, but for some individuals and households, now is the right time. Mortgage lenders are still active, so anyone interested in arranging a mortgage, should prepare themselves for the process, and speak with industry experts.