Mortgage and home-equity lenders reduced direct mail volume by 50 percent in the first half of 2008 compared with the year-earlier period, a result of faltering home sales, new legislation, credit woes and consumer anxiety, according to Mintel Comperemedia, writes MarketingCharts.

Lenders sent an estimated 750 million secured-loan mail pieces from January to June 2008. In 2007, they sent 1.5 billion during the same period, according to Mintel:

Secured-loan direct mail has been steadily declining each quarter since the first quarter of 2007. Mintel's second-quarter 2008 estimates show mortgage and home-equity mail volume 10 percent lower than during first-quarter 2008 (360 million versus 400 million):

The mortgage sector has fueled recent declines, with lenders reducing mortgage offers by 53 percent in the first half of 2008 (compared with the first half of 2007), according to Mintel. Home-equity product offers dropped 44 percent in volume during the same period.

Mortgage direct mail volume appears to have increased slightly in the second quarter of 2008 (from first-quarter 2008): Lenders mailed 8 percent more mortgage offers during the second-quarter 2008 (240 million) than during first-quarter 2008 (220 million).

Major players Chase and Capital One drove this quarterly increase in mortgage direct mail: Chase increased its mail volume 90 percent, while Capital One boosted offers nearly 140 percent between quarters.

"Though mortgage mail volume remains far lower than a year ago, this is the first uptick we've seen in two years," said Farah Huq, senior analyst at Mintel. "It could be because spring is a prime 'buying' season or it could be a sign that lenders are slowly beginning to increase direct mail. Still, we don't expect significantly higher mail volume until the market settles and consumer confidence returns."

Home-equity mail continues to plummet in the second quarter, however, bringing overall totals down, according to Mintel.