Nearly 9 million online mortgage searches made in May

According to recent research, 8.8 million online hits have been recorded from people searching for mortgages.

The figures suggest that consumers are not getting what they need from incumbent mortgage comparison solutions, as the 8.8 million search figure is compared with the recent Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) mortgage completion levels of 35,600 for April.

Furthermore, these figures reflect recent data from online search specialists Infoserve, which has tracked a 94 per cent surge in the number of people looking for mortgage brokers on the internet since September 2008.

Paul Fradgley, chief executive officer at Evaluate Technologies, said: "This is staggering statistic when you consider the number of actual mortgage applications generated.

"The high ratio of searches to transactions is a strong indication that consumers are generally not getting the experience they were looking for; namely a solution that mirrors the car insurance comparison proposition they see advertised on television continuously.

"Consumers want an online mortgage comparison solution that generates an unbiased and comprehensive list of products that they actually qualify for so that they can have an informed discussion with a professional adviser. Unfortunately, they rarely find this, to the detriment of consumers

Fradgley added: "A world of opportunity is available to forward thinking brokers and IFAs able to offer them what they want.

"In the current financial climate, it is impossible to ignore such potential and those who align themselves with the right solution will ensure they are perfectly placed to pick up on these millions of enquiries."