House hunting season "well underway"
By myfinances.co.uk staff
The spring home buying season has "kicked off strongly" this year, with activity in the mortgage market rising steadily across a range of borrower profiles, it has been claimed.
Comparison site moneysupermarket.com said that the number of people visiting its mortgage channel searching for a new home loan rose by 13% last month.
There was also a 29% increase in those looking to remortgage.
Following chancellor Alistair Darling's decision to scrap stamp duty on homes under £250,000 for first-time buyers, mortgage searches among this group rose by 17%, the site noted.
Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, mortgage channel manager at moneysupermarket.com, said that the "instant spike" in activity caused by the Budget announcement on stamp duty should be sustained, as overall momentum in the market remains high.
"What's more encouraging is that rates seem to be improving continually, so people looking for a mortgage should find themselves able to access some pretty good deals as we head towards summer," she added.
According to figures from Nationwide, the average UK house price rose by 0.7 per cent in March to £164,519.
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