Ring in the changes

The amount which people wanted to borrow on their mortgage in December dropped slightly from November, but rose by £7000 or 5.6% over the course of the year from
January. December also exceeded the annual average of £134,516, albeit only
by £1100.

The highest borrowing region was London, where borrowers asked for an average of £201,000 across the year and exceeded this in December requesting an average £205,000. The year high for London was in October, when requested borrowings soared to £217,000, the highest recorded since Leadbay started  tracking these figures five years ago.

The lowest borrowing region was Scotland where the average loan size requested was almost £100,000 below London's at £108,000. December borrowers increased this by just £6000 finishing the year in an almost identical place to where it started, but with highs
of up to £117,000 mid-year.

Adviser sentiment, and a truer picture of the market, is often reflected in the lead price. Lead prices have been much lower this year as the number of mortgage brokers in the market dropped significantly, and as mortgage business became much harder to place. This meant that often advisers had to speak to more potential clients to get business, so the heady days
of specialists paying as much £180 for an individual adverse credit lead are long gone.

Average lead price in December was £10.74 and this was a rise on some of
the previous months. Compare this with two years ago when the average lead price
was frequently up to £25 a lead and you can see how the cost of speaking to new
clients has tumbled.

When you consider that prior to lead generation an adviser would have had to advertise extensively, cold call and/or spend a lot of time at fetes and exhibitions to get new customers, it suddenly becomes clear that, despite all ourdifficulties in the market, never before has it been so easy and cost effective to speak to new clients who want your advice.

Of course, there are regional variations once again: the best value areas were the
southern regions and Wales, although in December the lowest price leads were
in the North East. Scotland was the most hotly contested area for new client. In
December, the Midlands also experienced a lot of competition for new leads, despite
providing the highest number of potential new clients.

So the year ended with mortgage amounts appearing to be on the rise - if
only very gradually; lead prices also seem to be finding some traction after some
very low dips in the middle of the year, as it appears that those advisers still in the
market seek to build up their client banks with a little more confidence that they have
products to sell.

There has been a distinct change in lead-buying habits, with a significant
number of mortgage advisers now also buying life, debt management and accident,
sickness and unemployment leads, while many advisers are buying mortgage leads
primarily for the cross-selling opportunities. This will surely continue in 2010, as less
money is made from mortgages and more from all the other associated sales