August saw the second highest monthly volume of ESIS generated through Mortgage Brain's sourcing system thus far in 2020.

While the monthly totals for August were down 5.8% on July, they remain above those seen earlier this year, even before COVID-19 began to take effect. ESIS volumes have been higher than those seen before the pandemic for the last six consecutive weeks and are now 6.1% above pre-pandemic levels. August also saw the ESIS generated per working day hit the highest level since February.

"The boost in ESIS volumes is clearly being generated by homebuyers, with residential purchase ESIS representing a higher proportion of the ESIS generated than pre-pandemic levels for 14 weeks in a row," Mortgage Brain said.

"This has been pronounced for some time too, at around 10% above pre-pandemic levels for ten consecutive weeks. The buy-to-let sector is also enjoying strong demand from buyers, with purchase ESIS representing 40.6% of the market, around 12% higher than before the pandemic."

Mortgage Brain CEO Mark Lofthouse said this growth in demand "is not being matched" by product numbers which have stabilised at around 8,500.

"Understandably lenders are taking a cautious approach towards their product propositions now, but this does mean that brokers and their clients are having to get by with limited choice
compared to the broader range of products they could access at the start of the
year.”

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