The Monthly Market Report for October from Countrywide revealed that the return of competitive tracker products caused a rise in activity among its mortgage consultants.

The last month also saw the average interest rate in Countrywide’s Top 10 Most Mortgages in October fall by 0.31% to 5.13% due to competitive pricing from lenders. This was the largest monthly change since January 2009.

While high LTV products dominate the top two spots on Countrywide’s Top 10 Mortgage Applications, greater confidence in the property market has led to more people willing to invest in property and take out mortgages. Evidence of this has been shown in that five out of the 10 most popular written mortgages requiring at least a 25% deposit.

Grenville Turner, group chief executive at Countrywide, said the level of competition was good.

He added: “The competition between mortgage providers is increasing and as they react to the changes in the economy and monitor each others’ pricing, we are seeing mortgages being adjusted on almost a daily basis.”

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