Over 500 new products were introduced during March 2011, representing a 5% increase in product availability and bring the total number of live mortgage schemes listed on Mortgage Brain to 10,418 (as of 4th April 2011).
The latest figures now show a 123% increase in product availability compared to this time 12 months ago when brokers had access to fewer than 5,000 products (4,665).
Fixed rate products witnessed the biggest movement in availability during March, climbing 10% (602 new products) and now represent 6,550 of all available products – up from 5,948 on 7th March 2011.
Variable rate products saw little movement during the past month, with a slight increase of 0.5% (5 new products) taking the total number of variable rate products to 1,111. The 12 month analysis for this product type, however, shows the best long-term performance with a massive 189% increase in product availability compared to the start of April 2010.
Trackers, which still remain the second most popular product type, dropped for the first time in four months during March – down 3% from 2,841 on 7th March 2011 to now stand at 2,757.
Commenting, Mark Lofthouse, CEO of Mortgage Brain, said, “It’s been a long time coming but we’ve finally broken the 10,000 mark for product availability in the UK intermediary market, which is great news for brokers.
“Additionally, the number of products with higher Loan to Value ratios is also increasing, which again is good news for brokers and their customers.
“Overall product availability is now at its highest level since September 2008, and to look back over the past 12 months and see a 123% increase is a real delight and shows a clear picture of market movement and the progress that continues to be made.”
