LAST month's quarter-point UK interest rate cut helped buck the traditional summer slowdown for August mortgage completions with a 6.6 per cent - or £875 million - hike in sales over the previous month, according to the Equifax Touchstone analysis of the intermediary marketplace.
And Northern Ireland enjoyed the biggest month-on-month increase, with mortgage sales soaring on 41.5 per cent, the study showed.
Residential and buy-to-let figures for the month in the whole of the UK totalled £14.1 billion.
August saw buy-to-let figures jump 9.1 per cent (£207m) and residential grow by 6.1 per cent (£668m) on July.
Comparatively, the market dropped by 13 per cent in August 2015 and by 18 per cent in August 2014.
Iain Hill, relationship manager at Equifax Touchstone, said: “Volatile market behaviour in recent months has left mortgage sales sensitive to external influences, including the usual end of summer slump and the Bank of England interest rate cut.
"Following the fall in July mortgage figures and the usual trend of decreasing figures in August, it’s a welcome surprise to see a break in the typical slow summer period."
He added: “The uncertain nature of the market as it tries to navigate the Brexit environment makes this an exciting time to watch where sales will go next. With September already off to a strong start, we could see further growth in the rest of 2016.”
Regional performance for the month was mixed, for while Northern Ireland stormed ahead with an increase in mortgage sales of 41.5 per cent, London showed sluggish growth of just 1.3 per cent and in the north west of England sales fell back by 2.5 per cent.
