The remortgage sector is now underpinning the UK housing market mortgage lending scene, according to the latest data from LMS. It accounted for one third of all mortgage lending during the month of April. As overall mortgage lending has slowed, remortgage lending is now center stage with borrowers and is poised to have more strong months of activity according to many close to the housing market.

Lenders across the UK continue to compete for remortgage clients through more attractive deals featuring low interest rates and higher LTV offers. As news of forecasts of uncertainty capture the headlines, lenders remain vigilant with deals providing means to save money. Remortgage as a method to save money is remaining popular with home owners and has a promising future, especially in the short term according to housing experts.

Day to day fundamental data within the UK housing market gives indication of the strength of the market overall and the direction in which it is heading. Over the past few months fundamental data coming out of the market has been in decline in most sectors. This reduction in the amount of activity is being blamed on the snap General Election which is close at hand.

Predictions forecasting growth within most sectors of the UK housing market have been scarce so far this year, especially in regard to growth of house prices. Uncertainty created around the post-Brexit era has led to up and down months within the market this year and many experts are hesitant about predicting what will take place through the end of the year. One new prediction is starting to gain traction. House price growth is now forecasted to see significant improvement in the coming months compared to mediocre growth seen the last few months.

The UK housing market continues its run of undersupply in the number of properties available for sale and that is illustrated by the amount of mortgage lending in April. The total for the month was more than 10% off the total from the month prior and settled at just short of £18.5bn. This is more than the same month last year which totaled £17.7bn. Although mortgage lending fell in month on month comparison, first time buyers and remortgagors kept going strong.

Remortgage approvals took a slight dip in the month of April, indicating the slowdown in the UK housing market is happening just ahead of the general election. According to data from the British Banker’s Association, remortgaging fell 10% compared with the same month of 2016. The total for the month of April was 23,074. The average each month for the last six months is 26,569.