Surge in number of available
mortgages

The number of different mortgage deals available has soared by more than a third during the past eight months, figures have shown.

There are currently 1,624 residential mortgages available, up from 1,209 in April but still well down on the 15,599 different loans on offer in July 2007, before the credit crunch hit, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk.

The group said the increase in choice showed competition was slowly returning to the mortgage market.

The biggest change has been seen in two-year fixed rate mortgages, with the number of deals jumping from 250 in April to 405 now.

There has also been a 22% rise in the number of three-year fixed rate loans, with these increasing to 352.

But the range of longer term fixed rate mortgages has expanded more slowly, with 297 deals currently available, up from 259 in April.

There has also been only a limited increase in the options available for people with small deposits, with the number of deals for people with just 5% to put down increasing from three to nine, while there are now 116 mortgages for those borrowing 90% of their home's value, compared with 72 in April.

Increased competition in the two-year mortgage market has led to the average interest rate charged on one of the deals falling from a recent peak of 5.21% in August to 4.93% now.

Copyright © Press Association 2009
All articles are copyright The Press Association 2009. News articles provided by The Press Association for Family Investments. Whilst every care it taken to ensure accuracy of editorial content, Family Investments takes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. The views expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Family Investments.

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