The number of purchase mortgage searches recorded in March dropped month-on-month by 2.4%, analysis by Twenty7tec has shown.

Purchase buy-to-let (BTL) and residential mortgage searches also fell by 3.4% and 2.2%, respectively.

Twenty7tec’s latest mortgage market statistics revealed that remortgage searches increased by 13.8% month-on-month in March, while BTL and residential remortgage searches jumped by 13% and 15.4% respectively.

However, searches by first-time buyers fell by 2.3% in this period.

Director at Twenty7tec, Nathan Reilly, said: "March’s mortgage market certainly was a mixed picture, with remortgage activity seeing a noticeable uptick of 13.8% overall compared to February, likely due to more customers looking to refinance amid ongoing speculation around rate cuts later in the year.

"On the purchase side, searches – including those from first-time buyers – dipped slightly by 2.4%, but we’re still seeing encouraging growth compared to this time last year."

Year-on-year, purchase mortgage searches increased by 2.3% in March, while remortgage searches fell by 5.5%.

In the same period, BTL purchase and remortgage searches dropped by 12.25% and 2.82% respectively, while searches by first-time buyers increased by 10.46% year-on-year.

Furthermore, two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 40.95% of all fixed product searches, compared to 51.51% in March 2024.

Three to five-year fixed mortgage searches accounted for 36.33% of all fixed mortgage searches in this period, while five to 10-year fixed mortgages accounted for 22.72%.

Reilly added: "It’s also interesting to note the shift in fixed-term product preferences. The share of two-year fixed searches made up just 41% of activity, down from 51.5% a year ago, while interest in three to five-year fixes has grown, increasing from 28.4% to 36.3%. Could this be indicating that borrowers are looking for a balance between flexibility and medium-term certainty?"

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