LMS has issued its Monthly Remortgage Snapshot covering August 2020.

The volume of instructions fell by 31% between July and August.

Completion volumes fell by 14%

The cancellation rate stayed setady, falling by just 0.3%.

Pipeline volumes decreased by 18%.

The monthly loan repayments data shows that 37% of borrowers have increased their payments, 13% made no change, and 50 reduced their monthly remortgage payments.

The average remortgage loan amount in London and the South-East was £301,199 while for the rest of the country the average was £136,791.

Nick Chadbourne, LMS’ CEO said:

“Activity levels dropped off across all major indicators in August this year, mainly driven by a focus from all stakeholders on the home-moving market as borrowers look to make the most of the temporary stamp duty changes.

We also have a spike of product expiries at the end of the year rather than the usual October increase. This may lead to a flurry of remortgage activity towards the end of the year as borrowers look to
secure a new fixed rate deal.

“The continued development and adoption of security and tech solutions will be key in helping brokers and lenders manage the spikes in activity at this time.

“It is promising to see that half of borrowers who chose to remortgage in August saw a significant decrease of just over £200 in their monthly payments. This comes as lenders continue to offer attractively priced fixed-rate packagesas they pass their lower borrowing costs on to customers.”