The number of mortgage searches made by first-time buyers (FTBs) fell by 10.4% in January to 292,890, Twenty7tec has revealed.

Despite the annual drop, the firm’s latest market statistics for FTBs found that January was the busiest month for searches since February 2024, and was the sixth busiest month ever for mortgage search activity by FTBs.

Month-on-month, the number of searches increased by 91.4% in January.

Director at Twenty7tec, Nathan Reilly, said that the "year is off to a great start for FTBs".

He added: "Despite this, it's important to note that although the month-on-month reporting is positive, mortgage searches by FTBs are still 10.44% down year-on-year compared to January 2023, reflecting ongoing affordability challenges and shifting market conditions. In other words, it’s good, but it has been better."

Furthermore, the group’s report revealed that January 2025 was also the tenth highest-ever month for FTBs as a proportion of the total mortgage search market.

January also saw FTBs represent 25% of the total European Standardised Information Sheets (ESIS), which Twenty7tec said was the "highest proportion of the market since it began reporting".

Meanwhile, FTBs represented 51.4% of the 90-100% mortgages market in January, which is the "highest ever proportion in that market".

Reilly concluded: "There's still some cause for celebration, with FTBs creating a record month for market share in January, accounting for 25% of all ESIS documents created - the highest proportion since reporting began. Additionally, in the high-LTV, 90-100% mortgage market, FTBs made up 51.4% of activity, the highest share ever recorded on our systems."

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