Hamptons Mortgages’ data has showed that the proportion of borrowers taking out residential mortgages in December 2007 decreased by almost 23% since December 2006, while buy-to-let purchases increased by almost 24% over the same period.

The proportion of borrowers taking out residential mortgages fell by 17.1% between November and December 2007. During the same period, the number of people that remortgaged their home increased by nearly 7%.

The data also revealed that the proportion of borrowers that opted for two-year fixed-rate mortgages over the past year dropped by 30.6% and take up of two-year variable-rate mortgages increased by 29.3% over the same period.

Jonathan Cornell, managing director at Hamptons International Mortgages, said: “This review of 2007 mortgage trends highlighted a clear swap in popularity between residential and buy-to-let mortgages. Interestingly the trends reversed by roughly the same amount over the course of a year, as have trends for fixed and variable rate mortgages.”