Just one in five re-mortgagors (22%) polled in July believe interest rates are going up, despite continued speculation of a rate rise, according to findings from LMS.
However, the number of people predicting rates will decrease fell by 1% from last month to 4% and re-mortgaging activity was boosted by borrowers keen to take advantage of the competitive rates currently on offer.
The number of re-mortgaging loans in July rose by 47% from 31,600 in June to 46,423 in July. Re-mortgage lending also reached £7.2bn, up 89% year-on-year.
The average interest rate fell to 2.56%, continuing a nine-month long trend of falling rates. Despite the apparent lack of concern about an interest rate rise, almost two in three (62%) people re-mortgaging in July did so in order to lower their mortgage rates.
Taking advantage of the record-low rates meant more than a third (37%) of borrowers managed to reduce their monthly mortgage payments by £500.
Almost one in three (32%) borrowers who re-mortgaged did so to increase the size of their loan, with one in four (25%) of those extending their loans by more than £10,000.