Remortgaging activity surges amid coronavirus outbreak

According to a new report from Mojo Mortgages, remortgaging has become the UK’s biggest financial concern following a series of coronavirus-rate cuts, following the online broker witnessing a 100% rise in remortgage applications in the past two weeks.

Related topics:  Finance
Warren Lewis
31st March 2020
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Alongside this application increase, online searches for the term ‘remortgage’ is up by 60%, as more customers look for the best deals to refinance their homes whilst rates remain at a historic low.

According to recent figures from consultancy firm CACI, the value of mortgages due to mature this April will account for 11 per cent of the £184bn of mortgage maturities in 2020. The biggest month for remortgages is December when £25.6bn worth of mortgages are slated to mature.

April’s mortgage maturities are also worth 52 per cent more than the average monthly maturity value this year across the other 10 months, excluding April and December, of £13.8bn. Both April and December’s value of maturities are significantly higher than last year; an increase of 14 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.

Households with mortgages that mature in April will have an average outstanding balance of £149,736 with 19 years left remaining on their term.

Richard Hayes, CEO and Co-Founder of Mojo Mortgages, said: “The coronavirus crisis has disrupted the housing market, undoubtedly. We’ve only just come out of a period of economic uncertainty with Brexit, and this pandemic has fuelled a level of uncertainty again.

“Obviously, health concerns are the immediate focus, but we’ve already seen the huge economic impact the virus can have, and people want to take steps to protect themselves, so cutting their biggest monthly outgoing, which is their mortgage repayment, makes financial sense and this is the key reason for why we’ve seen this increase at Mojo.”

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