LMS publishes its Monthly Remortgage Snapshot for January 2023

LMS publish their latest Monthly Remortgage Snapshot for January 2023, providing comprehensive overview of remortgage activity over the month.

Key performance metrics:

33%	25%	32%	11.9%
Instructions increased by 33% in January	25% more remortgages completed in January	The overall cancellation rate increased by 2.65%	Pipeline cases decreased by 11.9% month on month

Fast facts:

£239	36%	63%	37%
average monthly payment increase for those who remortgaged in January	of borrowers increased their loan size in January	of those who remortgaged took out a 5-year fixed-rate product, the most popular product in January	said their main aim when remortgaging was to longer-term security, the most popular response

Remortgage loan sizes:

36%	increased their total loan size
39%	saw no change in their total loan size
18%	reduced their total loan size
£17,997	average loan increase post-remortgage
£14,259	average loan decrease post-remortgage

Monthly loan repayments:

72%	increased their monthly remortgage repayments
10%	saw no change in their monthly remortgage repayments
18%	reduced their monthly remortgage payments
£239	average monthly repayment increase
£270	average monthly repayment decrease

Regional trends:

The average remortgage loan amount in London and the South East was £306,943 while the average for the rest of the UK stood at £156,659, putting remortgage loan amounts 96% higher in London and the South East than the rest of the UK.

The longest previous mortgage length was found in the North East at 74.26 months (6.19 years) and the shortest was in East Anglia at 51.73 months (4.31 years), putting the longest previous mortgage term 44% longer than the shortest.

Nick Chadbourne, CEO, LMS, said:

“As predicted at the end of last year, there was a spike in instructions for January.

“This is the case every year since December instructions are always seasonably low, but this year’s figures are higher than January 2022, showing that those who were holding out for better rates are starting to return to the market.

“As appears to be an increasing trend, those who remortgaged in January were primarily seeking to attain longer term security with nearly two-thirds opting for five-year fixed rates, which continues to be the most popular product.

“With the increased completion rates following the festive period, the pipeline contracted but this was to be expected.

“Moving forwards, increased market activity is likely to continue with mortgage rates falling below 4% for the first time since September.

“This is despite the repeated Bank of England interest rate rises as these have already been priced into the market.

“As such, we expect to see instructions and the pipeline grow over the next few weeks as well as a rise in cancellations since borrowers who secured rates in December may well reapply at these more attractive rates.”

Kindly shared by LMS

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay