April mortgage applications were down by 20.9 per cent for the month according to the latest National Mortgage Index by the Mortgage Advice Bureau and Coreco Group.  In a year to year comparison with April 2010 the month was down only 0.1 per cent.  Fixed rate deals were still high in demand over others at 76 per cent, especially with remortgaging.

Remortgages fell in April for the second month in a row.  In comparison with the previous month, remortgages fell 26.7 per cent.  Comparing year to year, remortgages were up 19.5 per cent.  Remortgages fell slightly due to the ease of the warnings of a rate hike by the Bank of the standard base rate.  Homeowners were expected to step back from the rush for a remortgage as forecasts called for a postponing of the expected rate increase from May to August.

The many Bank holidays, Easter, and the Royal Wedding all impacted the housing market as there were many diversions for homeowners looking for remortgages.  Potential buyers were also expected to step back from home shopping and postpone their purchases until later.  The fact that there was a step back in remortgaging was expected and it is due to pick up again as deals become more competitive to bring homeowners in to sign.  As the time nears for a possible rate increase again, the numbers will then pick up once more as homeowners choose to find safety in a remortgage.

Brian Murphy, head of lending, independent mortgage broker Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: "April mortgage activity has been significantly curtailed due to the bunching of the four public holidays. The timing of this year's Easter break combined with the additional public holiday for the Royal Wedding and the May bank holiday saw business activity grind to a halt across the UK.

"During the first three weeks of April, mortgage activity was generally running at the levels experienced in March and February, but from 22nd April the market largely went into hibernation. following the announcement of Q1's fairly anaemic growth figures and an unexpected fall in Consumer Price Inflation, the majority of economic forecasters are now suggesting that any rise in the bank base rate is likely to be held off until August.

"As a consequence the number of borrowers remortgaging slipped from recent monthly activity levels, although numbers still remain significantly above the corresponding period in 2010 suggesting that more people feel rate rises are on the way.

"Not surprisingly, of those who are refinancing, more than two thirds are continuing to opt for the certainty of fixed rates."