Mortgage Searches Down In 2009

Hitwise, the search intelligence company, have today reported that searches for mortgage-related key terms have decreased since the start of the year. If you wanted any evidence that fewer mortgages were being sold this year, well, you’ve got it right here.

It’s really interesting how the data marries up with events in the real world. Searches dropped by a huge 25% in March for example, right as the Bank of England lowered interest rates to 0.5%.

Right now the top key terms being used include the size of the deposit the searcher has – ‘95 mortgage lenders’ ‘10 deposit mortgage deals’ being just two. ‘First time buyer’ keywords are also strong, suggesting that sector is trying to get onto the property ladder.

Is all the recent speculation about a bottoming market right? From the Hitwise search data it appears it might be. First time buyers might have small deposits, but at least some are starting to look for a mortgage. We only wish we had a Hitwise account – then we could follow the data and see!

You can read the full article and see some pretty graphs here.