"In the last year especially, shelf life has been up and down like a yo-yo as markets and swap rates reacted to a whole myriad of economic and political factors."
This November saw the biggest month-on-month fall in mortgage product choice since July 2023, according to the latest Moneyfacts Treasury Report.
The average shelf life of a mortgage also dropped to 17 days.
And while we’ve seen lower rates for both figures, it does highlight what has been a bit of a theme throughout 2024, which is product volatility.
In terms of choice, the number of available mortgages fell from 6,645 in October to 6,402 in November. Quantity wise, we’ve certainly seen worse. The more significant factor in that statistic is how many products were withdrawn between October and November, because behind every pulled mortgage there are homebuyers and brokers who were part-way through applications for those products and rates.
Mortgages being pulled from month to month is nothing new, but in the last year especially, shelf life has been up and down like a yo-yo as markets and swap rates reacted to a whole myriad of economic and political factors.
If you look back at the Moneyfacts reports for 2024, you can see just how volatile this was. The average mortgage product shelf life started at 21 days in January and 28 in February, then almost halved to 15 in March. It recovered through April and May, before dropping back down to 15 in June. It reached a high of 30 days in July, then plummeted to 17 in August.
This landscape can be incredibly difficult for the borrower to navigate. It means they don’t have long to research the market or think about whether a particular deal is the right one. Once they’ve decided on a product, they have to be incredibly quick in submitting the application because a deal can be pulled at a moment’s notice – we’ve seen it happen all year.
Invaluable skills of a mortgage broker
This is where the skills, knowledge and connections of a mortgage broker are absolutely invaluable. There are many advantages to using a mortgage adviser, but this is a really key point for brokers to highlight to potential customers.
Mortgage advisers are market experts, with comprehensive real-time knowledge of product availability, lender criteria and other nuances that it’s incredibly difficult for the consumer to come by.
They can save endless hours of research or failed application attempts through their awareness of the best product options in different scenarios, the type of customer and cases lenders will accept, and exactly what they will want to see as part of an application.
By joining a network, advisers can supercharge all of that even further.
Industry knowledge and contacts
One of the main advantages of being part of a network is all the industry contacts and relationships with lenders. As well as sharing relevant updates through the network, we hold regular workshops and peer support sessions for our brokers. These are often attended by lenders who share information about their products and criteria.
It means advisers are always aware of the latest market trends, significant changes, new product launches and so on.
Searching the market for the best mortgages
All Rosemount advisers have access to a complete CRM system, powered by Twenty7Tec, which includes fast and efficient mortgage sourcing. This enables brokers to quickly and compliantly search for mortgages, as well as accessing those products which are only available through intermediaries.
Submitting applications as quickly as possible
In such a volatile product environment, time really is of the essence. Once a customer has found a deal they are happy to pursue, you can’t really waste time on a long-drawn out application process. Hopefully no-one is doing manual form-filling and postal IDs anymore, but even where digital systems are in use, they can sometimes be just as time-consuming if they are not intuitive. Think about how annoying it is to try and keep on top of paper trails that are all done via email only, for example.
A decent network should be able to provide you (and your customer) with straight-forward, integrated technology which streamlines the whole process as much as possible.
The CRM system we use also includes bespoke electronic fact-finding, a full reporting suite and an easy-to-use client portal. Because the sourcing system is integrated into the CRM, there’s less re-keying and less room for error. It allows advisers to source a mortgage and progress quickly to a decision in principle of full application.
Thanks to excellent lender relationships, our ID verification system is accepted for client verification, so there is no need to certify paper documents.
There will always be product volatility or other factors to react to, the key for the broker is to make sure they are well equipped to continue supporting as many clients as possible – no matter what the market throws at us.
