In the lead up to the EU referendum, the housing market suffered a stall as hopeful home buyers stayed away from the market with the uncertainty of the outcome of the vote. There were fewer houses sold in June than in any month since May of 2015. While mortgaging declined due to buyers staying away, homeowners kept demand high for remortgages as lenders kept their attention with continued low interest rates.

In June there were 64,766 properties sold according to data released by the Bank of England. This is down 3% from the previous month and 4.5% down from sales a year earlier in June 2015.

The value of mortgaging declined annually by 3% as buyers borrowed only £11.2bn.

Homeowners borrowed £7.5bn for remortgages at a volume of 43,102 for June. This was the highest value for remortgaging since October 2008. The sustained level of demand for remortgages in the face of the EU referendum vote is credited to the continued attractive deals offered by lenders, including historically cheap interest rates for many of them.

Buyers are expected to remain absent from the market as the impact of the Brexit vote settles upon the economy. However, some of the expected decline in the market could be credited to the usual summer decline that normally impacts property sales.

Meanwhile, homeowners are expected to keep up demand for remortgage deals.

When the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets in the coming days there will be a keen eye put upon the released minutes to determine how the committee members view the state of the economy post-Brexit. This will indicate to the public what to expect in the coming months in regards to interest rates and a possible tightening of lending. Then time will tell how hopeful home buyers, home movers, and homeowners will react.