Remortgaging homeowners have released record amounts of equity to fund a festive spending spree.
Gross remortgage lending leapt more than 24% over the past 12 months to £4.22 billion in November, according to property outsourcing specialists LMS.
Homeowners who remortgaged took out an average £26,498 in extra equity above the value of the loan they were redeeming.
That figure is nearly one-quarter higher than in October, and more than one-third more than this time last year.
That makes it the highest extra equity withdrawal figure on record, as customers release more cash in the run-up to Christmas, LMS said.
The total number of remortgages dropped slightly in November to 27,968, compared with 28,300 in October.
Despite this, the number of remortgage customers in November is still 5.9% higher than this time last year, at 26,400.
Remortgaging now accounts for 25% of the total home loans market, LMS said.
The average remortgage loan amount rose 1% over the past month to £150,822. This figure is also 8.8% higher than this time last year.
Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said: "The remortgage market has resisted the seasonal dip and is up 0.4% on October’s figure.
“In November, remortgage lending continued to climb as savvy customers flocked to the array of competitive rates on offer. Our latest customer survey suggests that 35% were able to reduce their monthly payments by up to £500.
“Last month remortgage customers released more cash than ever before, over £26,400, which will most likely be used to fund a festive spending spree.
"Looking ahead into the New Year, we are likely to see activity levels continue to rise, although the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in the spring may prove to be something of a rumble strip.”
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