Moneysupermarket.com: Mortgage deals fall 23%

Date:Tuesday 28th October 2008
Author:

The number of mortgage deals available has dropped by 23 per cent in a week, research has found.

According to comparison and finance website moneysupermarket.com, the number of mortgage products on the market fell from 4,930 to 3,785 in a week.

The website added that this means the number of mortgage deals available is now 86 per cent lower than it was in April 2007.

Furthermore, most of the mortgages which were axed in the last seven days were sub-prime, reducing the options for such borrowers.

Meanwhile, another finance and comparison website, Moneyfacts.co.uk, found that first-time buyers should invest their deposit money until the housing market bottoms out.

Using figures that were released by the Halifax to make its calculations, Moneyfacts.co.uk said that such a tactic could enable first-time buyers to purchase the same property at a lower price and possibly become eligible for a mortgage in a lower loan-to-value (LTV) band as well.