December mortgage sales in the UK plummeted by 38% (£5.8 billion) on November, according to Equifax Touchstone analysis of the intermediary marketplace. Year-on-year sales dropped by 12.8% (£.1.4 billion). 

Residential figures dropped dramatically by 39.6% (£4.9 billion) on the previous month. Buy-to-let sales also tumbled, falling by 32.1% (£853.7 million) on November.

All regions across the UK suffered from a significant mortgage sales contraction in December. The South Coast witnessed the largest slump of 42.1%, followed by the Midlands (40.6%) and Wales (40.3%). Mortgage sales in the North West fell 34.4%, the smallest drop across all the regions.

John Driscoll, Director at Equifax Touchstone, said: “After three months of consecutive growth, mortgage sales in the UK have decreased sharply across both residential and buy-to-let sectors. Traditionally, December is a slow month for sales due to the festive period and other seasonal effects. However, the level of decrease is somewhat concerning for the industry, especially when considering that mortgage sales are down £1.4 billion year-on-year.

“While we expect to see the usual New Year pick-up in the market following a festive dip, there are a number of factors at play which could alter the direction of mortgage sales in coming months. An uncertain economic and political outlook, the onset of Open Banking and whether this will facilitate faster mortgage applications, the end of the Term Funding Scheme and implications for higher mortgage rates, and the subdued forecast for house prices, to name a few, have set the scene for a volatile and uncertain market in 2018.”

The data from Equifax Touchstone, which covers the majority of the intermediated lending market, shows that the average value of a residential mortgage in December was £191,522 (2016: £196,682) and £150,914 for buy-to-let (2016: £158,967).

Notes to editors:

Equifax Touchstone Limited is one of the Equifax group companies based in the UK. Equifax Touchstone is registered in Scotland No: SC11340. Registered Office: C/O Dac Beachcroft West Regent Street Glasgow G2 2SA

Equifax Touchstone

Equifax Touchstone is a leading provider of strategic intermediary intelligence to financial product providers, delivering powerful benefits to its users. It operates a shared investment product data exchange with information provided by over 90 of the UK’s leading financial services companies.  It also operates the MyTouchstone database which is powered by the collective sales data of 77 major product providers, fund managers and platforms and inputs from thousands of intermediaries to help them understand how they perform compared to the other firms in their post area and across the UK.

About Equifax

Equifax, Inc. (“Equifax”) is a global information solutions company that uses unique data, innovative analytics, technology and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs 10,100 employees worldwide.

 For more information, visit www.equifax.com.