October 2022 was the third-busiest month ever for total mortgage searches, according to data from digital platform Twenty7Tec.

Only March 2022 and September 2022 exceeded the number of searches for October, and the first week of the month saw the most mortgage searches for remortgages ever on the platform.

Total searches for fixed products actually dropped in October. Searches for all other product types increased, however, with those for tracker mortgages rising by 50%.

Green mortgages saw their busiest day ever for searches at the beginning of the month. Similarly, the three busiest days ever for producing ESIS docs were in the first week of October. (Eight of the ten busiest days ever for ESIS remortgage docs were in the previous month.)

The ratio of searches for purchase v remortgage for October was 52:48 in favour of the former. However, it proved to be a month of two halves, with the first half 60:40 in favour of remortgage and the second 57:43 in favour of purchase.

October ended with 49% more products/variants available than at the end of the prior month, the data showed.

James Tucker, founder and CEO of Twenty7Tec, said: “The frantic September market continued into the first week of October, but then things dropped off as the month progressed. Mortgage availability stabilised around the 10,000 products and variants mark, and volumes calmed towards longer-term averages.

“It’s possible that November will also prove a month of two halves given the chancellor’s statement on 17 November, two weeks after the Bank of England’s 3 November interest rate decision meeting.”