• August 14, 2008

Thanks to a continued slump in the housing market and consumer anxiety, mortgage and home equity lenders have backed away from making direct mail solicitations--cutting their mailings by 50% over the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to Mintel Comperemedia.

According to the research company, 750 million secured loan mailings went out between January and June 2008, compared with 1.5 billion in 2007. "Economic struggles have hit lenders hard," said Farah Huq, senior analyst at Mintel, in a statement. "As companies work through a shaky market and new legislation, they're scaling back notably on direct marketing. Many seem to be waiting for winds of change before they send more offers."

Although down for the year, direct mailings for 2008's second quarter were up slightly--8%--when compared with the first quarter, marking the first quarterly increase in two years.--Aaron Baar