77% of residential mortgages introduced during the first quarter of 2011 were capital repayment mortgages, Paragon Mortgages has claimed in its latest Financial Adviser Confidence Tracking (FACT) Index.

This is the highest proportion since Paragon launched the FACT Index in 1996.

The panel survey of approximately 200 intermediaries found the proportion of repayment mortgages was up from 71% recorded during the final quarter of 2010 and has been rising since the third quarter of 2007 when it hit a six-year low of 57%.

Only 14% of mortgages introduced during the quarter were interest-only, the lowest proportion since the first quarter of 2004 and down from a high of 28% recorded during the third quarter of 2007.

John Heron , Paragon Mortgages’ managing director, said: “FACT shows that residential mortgage lenders have been clamping down on interest-only since the start of the credit crunch and the decline of this market shows no signs of slowing down. The Financial Services Authority signalled the demise of interest-only through changes proposed in the Mortgage Market Review and it appears that lenders are positioning their businesses in anticipation of regulatory changes.””