A diminishing mortgage market

On 1 July 2007, customers had a choice between 11,951 residential mortgages but today their choice has been reduced to a lowly 1,238 products.

People with less than a perfect credit record have been hit the most by this current economic crisis, with sub-prime mortgages virtually disappearing from the market. Customers currently in this category look to have little alternative but to revert to a higher rate after their initial deal ends, as the return of sub prime deals in the future becomes harder to predict.

Even consumers who would once have been able to take their pick of mortgage deals now find themselves struggling to get on the property ladder, as lenders are increasingly only dealing with the safest of clients – a group that has been dubbed super prime by experts.

Latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that gross lending fell by 2% in May, but home purchases have risen “steadily” since the beginning of the year, while remortgaging continues to fall.

Leading commentators have cited a number of reasons for this. One is that there are a growing number of homeowners who owe more on their property than it is worth currently. Another is that some people are paying next to nothing on their tracker rate mortgage, with many reverting to a standard variable rate of as low as 2.5%.

There is very little reason for these people to remortgage, as new mortgage deals are far more expensive than they are currently paying. Lenders are trying to react to this but find themselves unable to offer an incentive to make any marked difference. Moneyfacts.co.uk research shows that the current average two year fixed rate mortgage for house purchases is 4.8%. The average remortgage deal is a little better at 4.71%.

One of the most noticeable themes of the last few weeks has been the surge by lenders to increase the rates of their fixed rate mortgages, a move that has been driven by a recent jump in the cost of wholesale funding to the banks. Deals are still available well under the 4% threshold, but these are accessible to those who are able to offer a 25% or better deposit, ruling out all but the wealthiest first time buyers – a group that will be needed if a full blown housing revival is to take place.

With the Bank base rate down at 0.5%, the lowest overall deals are still tracker rate mortgages with a best buy from First Direct at 2.89% for term. Customers will need to think carefully when considering trackers, as short-term gains may look good, but rates are only going in one direction, and with the current level an historic low, it isn’t down.