The number of people choosing to remortgage their homes is steadily rising as a proportion of overall mortgage market activity, new figures have revealed.
According to information from the Intermediary Mortgages Lenders Association (ILMA), nearly half (49 per cent) of all new mortgage cases introduced in the last two months were remortgages, up from 48 per cent in the two months previous.
The increase came at the expense of home mover mortgage activity, which fell from 23 per cent to 20 per cent, with intermediaries noting that they expect remortgages to continue to increase in the near future.
Peter Williams, executive director of the ILMA, said: "With the current rebalancing of the market, it's becoming more difficult for non-standard borrowers to secure a loan to meet their circumstances."
He added that standard status mortgages would continue to grow as a proportion of the market, while non-conforming and self-certification business would see slight decline.
Last month, personal finance service Fool.co.uk warned homeowners that mortgage approvals may take some time to recover as the property market enters a severe downturn.
