Number of mortgage products 'rises for 8th month'

Date: Friday 5th March 2010
Author: Max Freedman

The number of mortgage products available has risen for the eight consecutive month, it has been reported.

Mortgage Brain's monthly analysis has found that during February the amount of mortgages that consumers had to choose from increased to 4,876, which was up on the 4,457 that were accessible the month before.

Fixed-rate mortgages saw the biggest increase, with 2,884 products on the market by March 1st and tracker mortgages increasing 200 per cent year on year to 1,623.

This new total is the highest number of products that have been obtainable for the past 15 months, with Mark Lofthouse, chief executive of Mortgage Brain, suggesting that it is beginning to point towards some market stability.

"We are now regularly seeing increases in product availability in all areas, which is particularly encouraging," he added.

This news could be welcomed by Catherine Hearnden, director of MyMortgageDirect, as she recently stated that institutions needed to start lending again in order for the market to begin recovering.