Mortgage deals are being taken off the shelves faster than some people would keep a pint of milk, according to the financial advice website Moneyfacts.

At present, products are only available for on average 11 days, while this time last year products were usually on sale for at least 30.

This time last year, there were 15,000 mortgage products on offer but now there are only 3,814.

Moneyfacts said: "Lenders with products available are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand, which impinge on their back room staff''s ability to cope and on the company''s capacity to provide a good level of service."

Furthermore, with 1.4 million UK homeowners set to remortgage their properties this year the crisis could well continue into 2009.

In related news, UK house prices have fallen by the most in at least 17 years, Bloomberg reports.

The average price of a home fell by 2.5 per cent in April and now stands at £173,583.