The frenetic activity in the UK housing market has eased following the withdrawal of the Stamp Duty concession in September according to Twenty7Tec, a leading mortgage tech provider.

The company’s most recent findings show mortgage searches down to their lowest level since May 2020; first-time buyers at their lowest proportion of searches since June 2020; and fixed mortgage now are the highest proportion on the company’s record suggesting customers are anxious about the potential for higher interest rates and inflation.

 “The market is changing, and fast,” said James Tucker, founder of Twenty7Tec. “We should be in the midst of a house purchase boom right now as we traditionally are in the 11 weeks prior to Christmas. Instead, the purchase market is not as firm as we’d expect, and re-mortgages appear to be the order of the day.”

“With a drop off in first-time buyer activity and a lower proportion of searches coming in the 95%-100% LTV (Loan to Value) range, we believe that the pre-Christmas mortgage market is slowing a little.”

In contrast, the company says that ‘Buy to Let’ is remaining strong.

In recent months the UK domestic moving business has been very strong. These statistics would suggest that activity is likely to ease in the New Year.