Mortgage searches increased to 1,675,984 in September, compared with 1,558,230 in August, Twenty7tec data reveals. While Twenty7tec says it looks like a market in recovery, it is clear that growth is being fuelled almost entirely by remortgaging. Remortgage searches climbed sharply to 820,429, a double-digit rise of 10.70% in August and up 14.59% compared with September 2024. First-time buyers saw only a slight monthly improvement of 2.57%, but are down 7.63% year on year, with their share of overall activity slipping from 19.24% in August to 18.36% in September. Yes, overall activity is up, but it is being propped up by remortgaging.