I usually do an annual post looking back at the year we have had. We have many customers going back to when we first started in 2013 and I like to think that as a small business our customers take an interest in us as much as we do in you (I can hear the cheesiness in that sentence, sorry). So this year will be no different…
The first quarter
The first quarter started like it always does. Its a little bit quiet, but it gives me chance to put in place some plans for the year and although we have no official targets I have figures we aim for. As 2021 was the first year we hit £10m in mortgages it made sense to have a similar target in place for this year.
By mid January it was all hands on deck and we were flying. That followed into February and then into March. By the end of March we had done 2 mortgages fewer than in 2020 and 2021 but we were on over £3.2m in Mortgages so well ahead of the £2.5m we needed to be.
The second quarter
The second quarter in April started the way the first quarter ended and we were still busy. However, I then got covid which floored me for well over a month. I had to take my foot off the gas and just deal with the applications I had on my desk.
This really hit me and I had to rely on Dawn a lot more than usual. This meant we took a hit in on the number of applications we made and we were down by around 25-30% on what we usually do in the same period!
However, we did £2.8m in mortgages, so we were still well ahead of where we were aiming to be. But by now interest rates were on the rise and there was some uncertainty setting in so we were unsure of how the rest of the year would play out.
The third quarter
July came and things started to slow down quite a lot. I have put this down to the uncertainty of the rate rises and also the absolutely ridiculous heat we had. I think people were more interested in keeping cool than they were looking for new homes. But I have to admit I was a little worried here, I began to think this was the beginning of things slowing down.
August came however and things started to get back to normal, it was a reasonable month and around as busy as we would expect so it was nice to see some normality…
September came and that can either be very busy or very quiet in my experience. Obviously we had a new PM on the way, the war in Ukraine and then a not so “mini budget” which just sent the country into meltdown. So you can probably guess, it was not the busiest of months.
We took a huge hit this quarter, and only ended up writing around £1.8m.
The final quarter
We starter October on around £7.8m, we were ahead of where we needed to be, but only slightly. The country was still reeling from the mini budget, and it includes December which is notoriously quiet.
By mid October, I had began to write the rest of the year off. Everyone we had been talking to had put their plans on hold. Partly due to cost of living, partly due to the rocketing interest rates and partly down to the uncertainty, all of which were completely understandable. Things had just come to a complete halt, so I had mentally written off the rest of the year and that carried on until November.
All of a sudden it picked up and we had a good busy month. It was completely unexpected but also very welcome. Into early December we were still getting plenty of new enquiries, but what we were beginning to see was people talking about next year. By last week I realised we had probably done what we were going to do. We fell short, at a little over £9m which was disappointing.
That being said, I think all things considered the mini budget, rising interest rates, the cost of living and spending 2 months out with covid we made a pretty good go of it.
Themes of 2022
A few things we spotted throughout the year include:
- More and more people wanting to fix for 5 years.
- Average mortgage size was around 10-15% higher than in 2021.
- Despite everything happening both here and further afield, people are still making plans for moving home next year.
What to expect in 2023?
I think next year will be slower, but all things considered not as bad as I thought maybe 2 months ago. I did an article last week here about what to expect in 2023 after having a meeting with an economist which goes into this in more detail, it even has graphs and charts!
If we consider that mortgage values are 10-15% higher than last year then even if there is a drop in house valued by 10-15% it should not have too much of an effect on the market as a whole – we hope!
We are still around should you have any mortgage enquiries, but this will probably be the last post of the year. If we do not speak before hand, have a lovely new year.