Mortgage product numbers drop sharply

September 18, 2022 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

New figures that have been released by Moneyfacts show that the period from August to September brought a sharp drop in the number of products that are available for borrowers.

This is true across mortgages within every loan-to-values (LTV) bracket, with the total amount of products that are available on the market falling to 3,890 during this period, which is a drop of 517. It means that the number of mortgages that are available is now the lowest that is has been since April of 2021, when the number was 3,842, and that the total number has fallen by 1,425 compared with the end of last year.

The current situation is also the first time since the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis began, that mortgage counts have dropped across every LTV bracket. This has come at a time when rates are continuing to rise, with the Moneyfacts data showing that September brought the ninth average standard variable rate increase in succession.

That rate rose another 23 basis points, which took it to 5.40%. That is the highest that it has been since the end of 2008.

Eleanor Williams, a finance expert at Moneyfacts, said that the amount of time on average that mortgages are remaining available rose considerably during September but, rather than showing that the market is becoming more stable, it actually indicates that lenders are reducing the numbers of products and focusing on core ones.

Advisors need this increased product availability time as they use their CeMAP know-how to find suitable loans for clients.