Remortgaging hits lowest level in five years

Figures for September show remortgaging accounted for 30% of the market by value - the lowest figure since August 2001 and down from 42% in September last year. In the third quarter of this year remortgaging accounted for just 31% of the market, compared to 39% in the third quarter of last year. The CML suggests the sharp drop in the popularity of remortgaging reflects the fact lenders are managing to retain more customers for longer by reducing the incentive to remortgage to other lenders. The number of people taking out fixed-rate deals has also shown a sharp fall. While fixed rates...