Previous research has shown how an increasing base rate has already started to impact the sector, with the average monthly level of mortgage-backed transactions falling 33% since December of last year.
However, when viewing the market over the last 12 months, there’s no denying the might of the mortgage sector as the driving factor behind current market success.
Across Britain, 919,936 homes have been sold in the last year, to the tune of just over £251bn. 630,688 of these have been facilitated by borrowing, with mortgage-fuelled transactions accounting for a huge £177.4bn - 70.7% of the total market.
London is the region where the mortgage sector has driven market performance to the greatest extent. Of the £44.9bn worth of property to be sold across the capital in the last 12 months, 76% have come via mortgage-backed homebuyers, with the West Midlands (71.7%), East of England (71.5%) North West (70.7%) also coming in above the national benchmark.
The South West is home to the lowest proportion of total market value accounted for by the mortgage sector. Even still, homebuyers borrowing to buy did so to the tune of £16.7bn over the last 12 months, accounting for 61.8% of the total value of homes sold over the last year.
At the local authority level, the mortgage sector accounts for 86.5% of the total market value of homes sold in Barking and Dagenham, with Thurrock not far behind at 85.5%.
Lewisham (84.9%), Slough (84.7%) and Harlow (83.5%) have also seen some of the highest levels of the total market value being driven by mortgage buyers.
Almas Uddin, Founding Director of Revolution Brokers, commented: “Against what is becoming an increasingly worrying economic backdrop, a decline in mortgage market activity is always going to follow a string of interest rate increases, as buyers act with a greater degree of caution when entering the market.
"But make no mistake about it, even with a further increase by the Bank of England on the way, the sector remains the engine room of the nation’s property market and will continue to fuel the vast majority of transactions that continue to push forward.”
