Mortgage products at lowest ever level

The number of mortgage products on the market has dropped to its lowest level on record, with homeowners having a choice of just 2,282 deals. First-time buyers have even less choice with 1,195 products available according to moneysupermarket.com, compared with the height of the property boom in August 2007 when more than 30,000 mortgage deals were available, and almost 20,000 for first-time buyers alone.