Broker products rise 7%, says Trigold

5 November 2009 | By Natalie Thomas

The average number of intermediary mortgage products rose by 7% to 2,203 in October and showed a fluctuation of fewer than 250 products over the past three months.

The number of direct only products  fell slightly from 1,223 to 1220 in Q3.

David Aylmer, marketing and business development director at TrigoldCrystal. says:  “For the seven out of ten brokers who use Trigold Crystal there will be some relief that the number of products available via intermediaries are holding firm especially as we have not seen any increase of direct only products.

“Although numbers continue to be well down on previous years (down 75% from October 2008 and 95% lower that Oct 2007) and certain product types such as self cert have been all but eradicated, there is still a broad selection for brokers to choose from.

“The average number of live products available to Mortgage Intermediaries rose from 2,063 in September to 2,203 in October; an increase of 140 individual products equating to a rise of some 7%. For those following the direct products debate we can reveal that direct only products saw an increase of just 3 products in October.”

He says activity levels for intermediaries performing a mortgage search on behalf of a client fell by 13% to 528,159 for the month.

Aylmer says although this sounds discouraging it is actually on a par with this time last year (down just 3%) which suggests that brokers are still working hard to find the right product for their clients. 

Aylmer, says: “The good news for those securing a mortgage deal is that they can expect to pay far less. The average   monthly mortgage payment in October was £742.25 which is some 20% less than in the corresponding month last year. Although any moves towards a recovery are little more than baby steps, we will continue to work hard to provide a system which supports all intermediaries.”