By Ed Towner

Many banks and building societies are trying to start the New Year on a high by releasing new mortgage deals. Cambridge and Nationwide building societies have both launched new products hoping to lure in new customers.

Cambridge is offering a range of new mortgage products for intermediaries looking to do business in the wider East Anglia area. Some of the key changes to it's range have been made to ensure intermediaries can get better deals for borrowers.

As well as offering 90% loan-to-value across the whole fixed-rate product range, there will be reduced application fees on all core fixed-rate mortgages.

Interest rates have also been dropped, the five-year fixed-rate mortgage previously offered a rate of 3.79% but in 2012 the building society will offer customers 3.69%. This can also be said for the fee-free remortgage products which now charge 3.89%, dropped from 4.79%.

First-time buyers with small amounts of equity will also be happy with Nationwide building society this January. Britain's largest building society launched a two-year fixed-rate 90% loan-to-value deal at 5.29%, with a £900 fee, which is market leading for low deposit buyers.

These new rates will come as great relief to people who are looking to take their first dip into the housing market. Although, the back end of 2011 saw prices rise 0.2%, over the whole year house prices dropped 0.5% which is another promising sign for potential house buyers.

This news comes as we reported that mortgages have become the most affordable for 14 years. This month has also seen mortgage lending up for only the second time in a year as the housing market looks to recover after the economic crisis.