There has been a 95% fall in the number of mortgage products where the deposit could be as little as 5%.

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"The mortgage market has reached a plateau with no real movement in the number of deal for borrowers with a small deposit, " said Michelle Slade at Moneyfacts.

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First, because bank failures are expected to continue and increase in number, picking a bank or thrift with deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is the best bet.

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Just how much future tuition a deposit today buys depends on which college your child attends, the number of years until your child enrolls and the discount rate the college offers.

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"The huge number of aspiring homeowners will never be able to find this kind of deposit, " said Neil Ryner, director of the property finance group, Ryner and Partners.

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Since peaking at nearly 2.5 million in June of 2007, the number of small loans to businesses has plummeted 39 percent, data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows.

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Such housing restrictions included limits on the number of units that households can buy, curbs on purchases by non-residents, higher deposit requirements for home buyers, and caps on the prices that developers can charge for apartments.

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Consumer advocates have criticized banks for playing games with customer accounts, like manipulating activity to levy overdraft penalties on the maximum number of small transactions, and then increasing them based on how long it takes for a deposit to post to an account.

FORBES: Pending Legislation Might Limit Overdraft Fees

Waterhouse, the industry number two, owned by Toronto-Dominion bank, is ahead in offering bank accounts that carry federal deposit insurance.

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