According to the professional advice site Unbiased.co.uk, the most popular advice category among consumers was enquiries from first-time buyers, which accounted for 40 per cent consumer enquiries for the whole of last year.
The second most popular choice of advice category was remortgaging, with around 32 per cent of consumers asking about that practice. Other popular enquiries that consumers have been seeking are residential mortgages (which had a 21 per cent request rate) and buy-to-let (which was at a 12 per cent request rate), followed by equity release and sub-prime (which shared a 7-per-cent request rate).
Karen Barrett, chief executive of Unbiased, told the Financial Times that the first three quarters of last year saw a spike in consumer mortgage enquiries due to the struggle of finding competitive mortgage deals. She also told the website that the housing market showed signs of recovery thanks to enquiries stabilised in the final quarter.
Ms Barrett said: ?It is encouraging to see that when there is turbulence in the housing market, consumers are seeking advice from the experts. However, it is essential consumers continue to seek advice regardless of the state of the property market, to ensure they are making the best decisions for their individual circumstances.?
Kevin Morgan, managing director of Hertfordshire-based Consilium Financial Planning, said that the amount of enquiries he received from first-time buyers last year was more then he usually gets: ?2008 was the year of remortgaging, while last year was the year of purchasing. People are shopping around a lot more for the best deals and looking to IFAs for help.?
