Almost 9 out of 10 (88 per cent) mortgage applications via intermediaries led to offers in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest data.
The figure is up 13 percentage points from the same point last year and the highest on record since the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) launched its Mortgage Market Tracker at the start of 2016.
Meanwhile, gross mortgage lending for the quarter reached £60.3bn – up 3 per cent quarter on quarter and 6 per cent year-on-year, showing signs of resilience in the market despite the political uncertainty created by the general election.
And brokers are optimistic these trends will continue, with 96 per cent of those surveyed saying they felt confident about the future of the mortgage market.
Buoyed by record low interest rated and support from lenders, the proportion of mortgage applications by first-time buyers that led to offers climbed by 13 percentage points to 88 per cent.
The percentage of offers resulting in completions also grew year-on-year, from 75 per cent in Q2 2016 to 81 per cent in 2017.
It means 71 of every 100 mortgage applications now result in a completion, up from 58 at the start of 2016.
The positive data comes in contrast to recent news of a £1.8bn drop in mortgage sales via intermediaries in July.
Peter Williams, executive director of IMLA, said: “With house price rises softening and easing affordability pressures, borrower demand and lender supply remains unwavering, heightened by increasingly competitive residential and buy-to-let loan-to-value pricing.
“Greater choice means that, for intermediaries, it is perfectly possible to match a wide range of aspiring homeowners and movers to suitable finance without compromising on rigorous assessments of borrower capacity to service their mortgage underpinning the market.”
Matthew Bird, investment and mortgage adviser at Newport-based Seer Green, said the figures could partly be explained by people getting to grips with the tax changes in the buy-to-let marketplace.
“The benefit of intermediaries is we ask people a number of questions, and we know from that whether they are going to get a mortgage,” he added.
“In that sense, the market is working fine. In a broader sense, I think we are facing potential monetary tightening which could affect affordability. I think that is a big danger.
“People are very much stretched on low rates at the moment, and I don’t know how much capacity there is for rate rises without really hitting demand.”
simon.allin@ft.com
