Habito: online mortgage searches in the UK were up 113% this weekend

Analysis from Habito, the online mortgage broker and lender, shows that online mortgage searches in the UK were up 113% this weekend compared to last weekend, following the General Election.

Google searches for ‘mortgage calculator’,  tool that helps people work out how much borrowing they need to buy a home, was also up a huge 225% over the same period. The Conservatives’ landslide win on Friday may already be boosting consumers’ confidence when it comes to the housing market.

Daniel Hegarty, CEO of online mortgage broker, Habito said:

“The Conservatives’ resounding election victory seems to have already given many consumers the confidence to at least think about their home plans.

“We’ve seen a marked jump in both Google searches and our own website traffic since the result of the election, across all buyer types; first-timers, next-time movers and buy-to-let landlords. With our mortgage brokers available online 9am-9pm Saturday and Sunday, it seemed that many would-be homebuyers buoyed by the result, used the down-time just before next weekend’s Christmas shopping rush, to speak to an expert about their home buying and financing situation.

“When we asked in late November, more than a third of people (36%) said they felt less positively about their personal finances, compared with six months prior. Of course, we wait to see if this initial surge of interest is backed up with people feeling more positively about their personal finances as a whole and if this results in an increase in home-buying activity in early 2020, but the very early signs are positive.”

3 top tips for looking for a mortgage:
  1. Use a tool –like a mortgage calculator to see how much you could afford. Use one that takes into account any fees or taxes such as stamp duty, which can’t be put into your deposit, to get a more accurate figure.
  2. Use a broker that’s ‘whole of market’ – they can look at all the mortgages out there – from 20,000 and get the best one for you and your circumstances
  3. Don’t just look at the interest rate– lots of deals come with extras including cashback, free valuations or higher product fees, so watch out for suspiciously low rates and base your choice on ‘true cost’ with all the extra fees and incentives added in!

 

Kindly shared by Habito