Whilst rates are still soaring higher than they were before the disastrous mini-budget last Autumn, the number of deals available seems to have recovered from the turmoil.
In fact, those borrowers who have a small deposit or equity of just 5% – an area of the market which is the first to shrink when times get tough – are enjoying a product boom, with 254 deals available compared to 141 this time last year.
Overall, Moneyfacts revealed, product choice increased month-on-month, for a fourth consecutive month, to 5,678 options, the highest level of availability since March 2008.
Combined with the fact average fixed rates fell between October and November this is promising news for anyone about to take out a mortgage to purchase a home or to remortgage.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “The growing choice of mortgage options demonstrates a buoyant period for the market as the year end edges closer. Borrowers with a limited deposit or equity of just 5% may be pleased to find more choice of deals in this sector.”
She added: “If borrowers can stretch their budget by another 5%, they will find more than 700 options at 90% LTV, which is its highest count since February 2022 (735).”
More time to grab deals
There’s more good news – the average ‘shelf life’ of new mortgage deals has also increased. This means, when a lender offers a new deal to the market, it is typically available for 20 days rather than the 16 days seen last month.
This is a huge improvement on the average 12 days recorded in July 2023.
Springall added: “These are promising signs that the market is settling and could result in more time for borrowers to take advantage of new offers.
“However, there is no telling how long this may last, as there are growing expectations for fixed rates to fall further, and this could impact the shelf-life of competitively priced deals. Lenders will need to carefully balance their pricing and consider any end-of-year targets they expect to hit.”
| Mortgage market analysis (Source: Moneyfacts.co.uk) | ||||||
| Nov-21 | Nov-22 | May-23 | Oct-23 | Nov-23 | ||
| Fixed and variable rate products | Total product count – all LTVs | 5,156 | 3,117 | 5,264 | 5,495 | 5,678 |
| Product count – 95% LTV | 316 | 141 | 212 | 252 | 254 | |
| Product count – 90% LTV | 667 | 398 | 675 | 648 | 709 | |
| Product count – 60% LTV | 587 | 340 | 676 | 585 | 619 | |
| All products | Shelf-life (days) | 27 | 17 | 25 | 16 | 20 |
| All LTVs | Average two-year fixed rate | 2.29% | 6.47% | 5.26% | 6.47% | 6.29% |
| Average five-year fixed rate | 2.59% | 6.32% | 4.97% | 5.97% | 5.86% | |
| 95% LTV | Average two-year fixed rate | 3.22% | 6.59% | 5.94% | 6.74% | 6.55% |
| Average five-year fixed rate | 3.51% | 6.35% | 5.28% | 6.08% | 5.93% | |
| 90% LTV | Average two-year fixed rate | 2.54% | 6.45% | 5.50% | 6.39% | 6.25% |
| Average five-year fixed rate | 3.02% | 6.24% | 5.08% | 5.78% | 5.91% | |
| 60% LTV | Average two-year fixed rate | 1.49% | 6.28% | 4.83% | 6.16% | 5.94% |
| Average five-year fixed rate | 1.71% | 6.08% | 4.57% | 5.65% | 5.47% | |
| All LTVs | Standard Variable Rate (SVR) | 4.41% | 5.86% | 7.37% | 8.18% | 8.19% |
| All LTVs | Average two-year tracker rate | 2.03% | 3.69% | 5.07% | 6.17% | 6.15% |
| Data shown is as at the first available day of the month, unless stated otherwise. | ||||||
| Source: Moneyfacts Treasury Reports | ||||||
