Homeowners appeared to be putting off any pursuit of a remortgage in November 2012.  The data reported from LMS revealed that remortgage lending fell 23.4 per cent to a gross value of £3.1 billion.  There were also fewer remortgages advanced by 23.6 per cent down to 22,472 compared to October’s 29,399.  The month to month comparison revealed a decline but the year to year comparison was different.  November 2011 had been the lowest level for remortgage lending since December 1999.  Between the two years, November 2012 registered an increase of £114 million over November 2011.

There was an increase in the average loan amount of remortgages in November by £373 to £138,573.  This marked a new high for the average remortgage loan value since December 2008.  It is also an increase over the November 2011 value of £131,350 by 5.5 per cent.

Andy Knee, Chief Executive of LMS remarked, “The number of homeowners remortgaging in November fell to its lowest level since the credit crunch but, more optimistically, the total value is still higher than the trough of the market in August 2012.

“This can be attributed to a seasonal lull in activity in autumn as homeowners opted to delay any financial decision-making until the New Year. This is also reflected in the gross mortgage lending estimate from the CML which has reported that growth stalled following a similar burst of activity the previous month.

“In spite of a weaker than expected November for the remortgage market, we are still on course to reach our predicted 310,000 transactions this year with the FLS, general easing of funding constraints and competitive deals with finer margins contributing to growth of as much as 25 per cent in 2013.”