The latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv has reported that there were 65,887 loans (seasonally adjusted) approved during June, compared with the 64,645 recorded during May.
This total is also 1.4% higher than at the same point during 2016.
However, some areas of the market have performed more strongly than others and the proportion of loans granted to buyers with a small deposit actually fell month-on-month.
In June 2017 18.5% of all loans went to this segment of the market. This is below the 21.3% recorded last month and further back from the 2017 high of 21.5%, recorded in April.
But this is still well above the most recent low, recorded in December 2016, when those with small deposits represented just 16.1% of the market.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv, said: “It is great news that the mortgage market is growing once again. Approvals are up both compared to last month and June 2016.
“With the whole market moving this means that homeowners are able to move up the ladder, or to downsize if they need to. This also creates room at the bottom for first-time buyers to jump onto the ladder in future months.”
Large deposit buyers – defined as those with a deposit of 60% or more – accounted for 34.5% of the total home loan market this month. This is higher than in May 2017, when these borrowers made up 33.9% of the overall pool.
However, this is the fifth successive month that those with large deposits have accounted for less than 35% of the total market.
Small deposit buyers saw their share of the mortgage market shrink compared to last month. Despite the overall growth of the market month-on-month there were fewer loans granted to these borrowers in June than there were in May.
On an absolute basis, there were 12,189 loans granted to small deposit buyers in this survey period – lower than the 13,769 approved a month ago.
These changes meant the ‘mid-market’ borrowers saw their share of approvals edge closer to the 50% mark. Some 47% of all mortgages went to this part of the market in June, up from the 44.8% the month before.
Sexton added: “While the number of small deposit buyers being approved for mortgages has fallen, this should not be seen as a negative.
“As those properties up the ladder change hands this will free up those homes at the bottom of the market for first- time buyers in future months. This allows the cycle of growth to continue.”