Adviser, Stephen Alger, of MAB Norfolk and Suffolk gives his insights on the current local mortgage market.
“Whilst it’s always great to hear from our clients, we were genuinely surprised at the number who contacted us last month to arrange a remortgage. We believe that this was mainly driven as a result of news headlines suggesting that the interest rate would rise in August, and therefore wanted to get everything in hand as soon as possible.
On the purchase side of the business, everything ticked over really nicely in July and we saw a similar number of clients to levels we’ve seen over the last few months, so there definitely wasn’t a ‘summer slow-down’ as far as we were concerned. There are currently a number of new build developments in the local area which are particularly appealing to First Time Buyers, which is perhaps a contributing factor, although demand is equally high for existing family homes and higher-end properties too.
As a result, property prices locally have remained steady again over the last month. Certainly, we would suggest that the market as a whole in this area has remained consistent so far this year, and with buyer demand as it is currently, we would suggest the signs are that this may continue for the foreseeable future.”