Mortgage Brain has reported that it saw more ESIS generated through its sourcing systems in July than any other month so far in 2020.

The mortgage technology expert revealed its figures for July, looking at ESIS volumes per working day, were only slightly below the peak seen in February, though taken as a whole July has so far been the most productive month of the year.

On a weekly basis, ESIS volumes grew 0.2% last week to leave them 1.7% above those seen pre-pandemic. The data showed this was the second straight week in which ESIS volumes have been above levels before COVID-19 hit the UK.

Mortgage Brain suggested the increase is being driven by strong demand from purchasers, with residential purchase ESIS having now been around 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels for six consecutive weeks. For the buy-to-let market, purchase ESIS have been around 7% above the average volumes seen before COVID-19 for nine weeks in a row.

Lending at the highest LTVs is holding steady, the mortgage technology expert added, with ESIS volumes for cases between 80 and 85% LTV remaining at around 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels for seven consecutive weeks. Mortgage Brain revealed these now account for 22.5% of all ESIS produced.

“It is little short of extraordinary that we have seen such a bumper July,” commented Mortgage Brain CEO, Mark Lofthouse. “ESIS volumes have been trending healthily upwards for some time, a clear demonstration of just how strong demand to buy is from both owner occupiers and property investors. This is traditionally a quieter time for the market, so it will be interesting to see if this momentum is maintained over the summer.”

In terms of product numbers on the market, Mortgage Brain indicated its data was “less positive”. Figures have fallen for four consecutive weeks and dropped by 1.3% last week to stand at 8,857.

The latest total is now down by 39.6% on the nine-week average to 16 March, but is still up by 19.3% on the lowest point seen during the crisis.

“Product numbers remain a concern, however,” Lofthouse said. “While they have dropped by only modest amounts over the last four weeks, the fact is that brokers and their clients now have 4.4% fewer deals to choose from than a month ago, and almost 40% fewer than in the days before the pandemic.”

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