THE number of people remortgaging their houses is at its highest level in four years.
Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) suggested householders were keen to renegotiate terms surrounding remaining debt ahead of an anticipated rise in interest rates next year.
The statistics, which cover the three months to June, also recorded purchase lending to have risen 11 per cent.
It said there were similar trends for mortgages for first-time buyers and home movers.
First-time buyers continued to drive the market accounting for 57 per cent of house purchase activity.
Remortgage lending went up a third year-on-year by the amount borrowed and increases in number of loans mean that quarterly remortgage activity is the highest since 2011.
CML director general Paul Smee said: "Remortgage lending has shown growth for the third quarter in a row, a marked difference to its rather subdued levels over the past few years, and is now at it's highest since mid-2011 in Northern Ireland. With an interest rate rise becoming more likely, it appears people are looking to secure competitively-priced mortgage deals.
"House purchase lending has increased compared to the first quarter which is unsurprising given the traditional lull in lending during the winter months. There was a decline year-on-year, but this is still the second best performing second quarter in Northern Ireland since 2007 and we have forecast activity to continue to pick up going forward."
Danske Bank's deputy managing director of personal banking Stephen Bloomfield said: "After a quiet first quarter it is no surprise that the overall figures for the number and value of loans for house purchases in Northern Ireland was up in the second quarter of 2015. Consumer confidence is improving as the local economy continues to grow.
“The level of mortgage activity remains healthy, and both the number of mortgage sales and the value of those sales are higher in the second quarter of 2015 than in the same three months in 2013.
“We expected house buying activity to pick up in the second quarter and that has proved to be the case as first time buyers and existing homeowners, perhaps conscious of the Bank of England’s comments on upcoming interest rate rises, take advantage of the low interest rate environment."
He said the bank had approved more than £131 million in mortgage lending over the first half of the year "and we are keen to lend even more in the second half".
The CML report found first-time buyers typically borrowed 2.79 times their gross income with the typical loan size £81,275.
Home movers meanwhile typically borrowed 2.32 times their gross income with the typical loan £104,295.
