Mortgage fire sales are rapidly becoming the norm for property purchasers, so borrowers have to make fast decisions and be ready to grab a deal at short notice, according to experts.

A growing number of lenders are offering mortgage fire sales, where specific loans are only available for up to 48 hours, to help cope with buyer demand while struggling with staff shortages owed to the current coronavirus crisis.

These short-term mortgage products tend to appeal to first-time buyers in particular as they are often available at the higher loan-to-value end of the market, which has recently seen a sharp drop in the number of products available.

David Hollingworth, of L&C Mortgages, commented: “This may seem like an old-fashioned ‘get ‘em while you can’ marketing gimmick to stoke up interest, but ironically it’s driven by a lender’s need to manage the amount of business that comes its way.”

Nick Morrey, of broker John Charcol, agrees that we are likely to see “more flash sales before the end of the year”.

Morrey said: “Rumours suggest that those lenders who have held them received five times the normal amount of applications and I think there’s growing pressure on other lenders to do the same.”

“With gazumping, bidding wars and a backlog of applications, you want to be able to move fast,” he added.