Mortgage product numbers climb for the second month

The total number of live mortgage schemes listed on its market leading sourcing system increased by 8% in the last month. Current figures (as of 5th May 2009) list 3,322 mortgage products, up from 3,091 on 30th March 2009.

Although a 12 month comparison still paints a bleak picture, showing a drop of 73% from this time last year, the past two months alone has seen an encouraging increase of 22%.

Variable rate mortgages saw the biggest increase during April (18%), followed by Fixed rate mortgages at 13%. The trend for trackers, however, has been more volatile in recent months. Despite witnessing an increase of 21% during March, they dropped 14% in April from 653 at the end of March to 563 yesterday (5th May 2009).

Mark Lofthouse, CEO of Mortgage Brain, comments:

“It’s encouraging to see the total number of live mortgage schemes increase for the second month in a row and whilst some of these changes might be small, they do represent positive indicators of market stabilisation and slight upward movement.

“However, as the latest figures for Trackers clearly show, it’s still too early to assume the mortgage market is levelling out and poised for a significant bounce back. It’s still going to take some time.”

This article is taken from the introducer.co.uk website