Find the Best Mortgage
Independent Mortgage Advice
Experienced Buyers Seek Mortgages Online
Experienced property investors are heading online to find the best mortgage deals, new data reveals.
According to Charcolonline, the UK's leading online mortgage broking service, buy-to-let deals increased from 14 per cent of activity in July to 17 per cent last month - with overall online mortgage applications up 17 per cent.
"I think it is clear that more and more borrowers are becoming very astute in the way they arrange their mortgages," said Drew Wotherspoon at Charcol.
"Buy-to-let, after all, is about yields and profit, so arranging a mortgage online makes logical sense. We are dealing with experienced professionals who know and follow the market, so I am not surprised that a greater proportion are going online to arrange finance."
Over the same period the percentage of first-time buyers applying for mortgages over the web edged down from 15 per cent in July to 11 per cent in August - however this figure is still slightly higher than the ten per cent average for the last six months.
"We also see that first-time buyers are a little shy to buy, but this obviously further accentuates the good market for rentals. Combine this with a still sluggish property market and it makes for an excellent environment for the canny buy-to-let investor," Mr Wotherspoon added.
Charcolonline data also reveals that remortgaging still accounts for most online borrowing - making up 54 per cent of applications last month. Home movers made up 18 per cent of online mortgage deals in August, up from 16 per cent in July and 14 per cent in June.
By Rebecca Knight