Brokers confirm the slowdown is real
On the ground, the figures align with what intermediaries are seeing in their own pipelines. Rhys Edwards (pictured top left), mortgage consultant at Brooks Financial, told Mortgage Introducer his meeting numbers had tracked the national trend. “May and June have been significantly lower than previous years,” he said. “It has definitely been a quieter May and June basically.”
Louis Mason (pictured top right), director at Oportfolio Mortgages, told Mortgage Introducer enquiry levels remained healthy but that buyer behaviour had shifted. “The figures certainly reflect a market that’s become more cautious, but they don’t necessarily tell the full story. We’re actually still seeing healthy levels of enquiry, although buyers are taking longer to make decisions. People are spending more time assessing affordability, comparing products and making sure they’re purchasing the right property rather than rushing into the market.”
Media scaremongering is making brokers’ jobs harder
Edwards went further, identifying press coverage as an active contributor to buyer hesitancy. When reports emerged claiming the average two-year fixed rate had surpassed 5%, he ran the numbers himself and found the figure did not stack up. “I actually quoted the top rates from the lenders and all the different loan-to-values, did the average, and the average was 4.2 at that point, not 5, as the press were pointing out, so things like that really didn’t help.”
For Edwards, the episode pointed to a wider issue, that inaccurate headline figures, however quickly corrected, shape buyer psychology in ways that are hard to undo. He added swap rates had become far more sensitive to geopolitical events than in previous years, compounding the challenge. “The wholesale market seems to be significantly more reactive to political and geopolitical events,” he said. “I think we’re in newer territory than we have been in.”
Managing rate expectations this summer
With hopes of a Bank of England base rate cut this summer fading, both brokers said they were actively managing client expectations around timing. Mason said his firm discouraged clients from making major financial decisions based on rate predictions. “We focus on helping clients secure the most suitable mortgage available today. If rates improve in the future, there are often opportunities to review options, but waiting indefinitely can sometimes end up costing more than acting now.”