Although the mortgage market is one of the more mature sectors of the financial services industry, the last two decades have seen it undergo a tremendous period of change. Deregulation and technological developments have radically altered market conditions and given rise to some fundamental and far-reaching changes in the operating environment that confronts today’s mortgage providers.

Furthermore, this pace of change shows no sign of abating, with lenders increasingly having to react to a series of ongoing challenges. At the moment, these challenges firmly centre on the fallout from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and resulting credit crunch, which continues to exert significant pressure on the availability and cost of mortgage funding.

This report provides an assessment of recent trends within this sector. It analyses market data, considers the prospects for future growth and reports industry views on a range of salient issues. In addition, it provides analysis of Mintel’s independently-commissioned consumer research, which identifies the proportion of adults who own a mortgage and what type of product they hold, establishes the current level of customer churn and provides an estimate of future remortgage activity and assesses the type of product features that typically appeal to today’s mortgage customers.

Key issues:

What impact is the credit crunch having on the market? How are lenders and intermediaries responding to the new environment?

Will remortgage activity continue to drive the market onwards?

What are the key issues that influence consumer choice of mortgage products?

Have market jitters affected consumers’ willingness to move onto – or up – the housing ladder?

How can churn be cut in a market that increasingly needs to focus on retention?