Search volumes fell to 1,282,378 in October, a 4.5% decline on a monthly basis, according to data collected by Twenty7Tec.

Breaking down the data, 846,643 searches were for purchase, which represents a 6.9% decline month-on-month.

Meanwhile, 435,735 were for remortgage, which outlines a 0.5% rise between September and October.

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Moreover, first-time buyer searches saw an 18.58% uplift over the same timeframe.

Demand fell across all categories in October, including standard residential, which dropped by 2.8%, buy-to-let, which fell 0.7% and standard shared equity/ Help to Buy declined by 8.88%.

Moreover, shared equity/ HTB decreased by 23.95%, shared ownership reduced by 2.82%, and let-to-by dropped by 6.25%.

Furthermore, in regard to property values, again all categories noted a decline. The under £150,000 category fell 3.67%, £150,000 to £249,999 dropped by 3.6%, and £250,000 to £499,999 declined by 3.03%.

In addition, the £500,000 to £999,999 category saw demand fall by 4.94%, and the over £1,000,000 fell by 0.36%.

James Tucker, chief executive of Twenty7Tec, said: “In this month’s report, we have looked at how lockdowns affect the search market – across the home nations and UK-wide level.

“The key finding is that there is a dip prior to any local or national lockdown happening, but activity picks up again as lockdowns actually come into force.

“October 2020 in two sentences? Locked-down consumers looking to escape their four walls are turning to their brokers in droves. Lenders need capacity.”