Mortgage lending has been quite active for the past several months, starting in middle of last year. Once the idea of an interest rate hike was expected in the month of November 2017, all lending went North and has not slowed down. Original loan mortgages are still keeping lenders quite busy, but according to the latest data, remortgage activity is currently riding a wave which it will not soon be done with, according to housing specialists everywhere.

Spring is a time for renewal and that includes considering all household finances involved with a home mortgage. The maturity on the current mortgage loan may be coming soon. It may be later this year. Whenever it is, housing experts suggest looking at a possible alternate to the current mortgage lending product 2 to 4 months prior to actual maturity date on the loan. Taking this into consideration combined with a season of renewal, many housing experts are urging house owners to think about remortgage for saving money and possibly renovating the house.

Remortgage lending has remained in high demand from homeowners according to recent data. The latest figures from UK Finance revealed that remortgage drove the increase in overall gross mortgage lending in the first quarter by 4% in comparison to the first quarter of 2017. This was despite a slow March with demand falling by 2.3% against last year’s March.

Many relevant pieces of data concerning the housing market appear to be stuck as we move into the middle of the second quarter of the year. Most sectors by this time in the yearly cycle are humming at normal speed, but this year is different. It appears the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and other issues are stagnating some areas which would typically be growing, but are at this time not moving as usual. Property transactions overall are lower for the February to March period compared to the same time last year by about 10%.

House prices entered the month of March with low expectations by housing experts and the month finished with just that, little movement. A similar result was expected for the month of April. House prices this month have bounced back and increased slightly in a correction which is forecasted for much of this year. House prices will likely bounce up and down with little growth, according to many housing experts. April posted a 0.2% increase in house prices compared with a 0.2% reduction in prices posted in the month of March.

Remortgage lending continues to be strong through the first quarter of the year. Gross mortgage lending fell slightly in the month of March compared to the month of February, but experts see the data as encouraging with an upswing for the quarter leading into warmer weather and the strong selling season which is expected to begin soon. For the first quarter, home purchase approvals fell slightly and totaled 100,559. This is a reduction of 14% compared to the same time last year when they totaled more than 116,000.