The last time there was over 300 products available was in November 2008, when Bank of England base rate was at 4.5% and the impact of the credit crunch began to have a major impact on mortgage lending.
As well as an increase in the number of mortgage products available, the average rate on 90% LTV products has also begun to fall. The average rate on fixed rate mortgages has dropped 0.53% in the past year to 5.87% and has dropped 0.17% since last month. However tracker mortgages at 90% LTV are more expensive than this time last year, the average rate is now 5.5%, a drop of 0.22% since June.
Clare Francis, mortgage spokeswoman at moneysupermarket.com, said: “There is a severe shortage of first-time buyers at the moment and one of the reasons for this is down to the fact that it's been so difficult to get a mortgage unless you've had a deposit of 25 per cent or more. It's therefore encouraging to see an increase in the number of 90% and 95% mortgages available.
“That said, we are still a long way off the number of products that were available pre-credit crunch and those with smaller deposits are still having to pay a higher rate of interest than those who are able to put down 25% or 30%. It's good to see things are moving in the right direction though as this should make it slightly easier for people to take that first step onto the property ladder.”
