"People at the top of the ladder must move first to free up properties for everyone else to move into."
The latest e.surv data shows that November's figure is above the 62,522 recorded for October but remains below the 70,511 approvals in November 2015.
However while the number of approvals has increased, these loans appear to have gone to borrowers with larger deposits. The number of approvals made to borrowers with less than a 15% deposit shrunk compared to the previous month while loans to those with a large deposit increased. Small deposit mortgages represented 16.3% of the market in November versus 16.7% in October.
Scotland was the area which saw most large deposit borrowers in the market with 43.7% of all loans going to borrowers with a deposit of 60% or more. This figure is considerably up on the 38.3% recorded last month.
This meant Scotland leapfrogged London, where 39% of approvals were for large deposit buyers. The South and South Wales (39.1%) and South East (38.6%) regions were also home to large numbers of approvals to this segment of the market.
The research also found that Northern Ireland was the location most receptive to small deposit borrowers for the second consecutive month. During November, 31.6% of all loans in Northern Ireland went to these borrowers, higher than the 29.5% found in October.
Yorkshire and the North West were the next best regions for new buyers at 26% and 25.7% respectively.
At the other end of the scale, buyers in Scotland found it most difficult to get a small deposit mortgage – just 11.8% of mortgages went to this sector in November.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, commented: “The post-Brexit doom and gloom in the mortgage market has passed and we are now starting to see growth in the number of loans being approved.
“While activity is still down on previous years, the market is in a stable place, with record low mortgage rates continuing to lure buyers into the market.
“A shrinking first-time buyer market is a cause for concern, but after a period with lower-than-normal approvals, this could merely be a lagging effect. People at the top of the ladder must move first to free up properties for everyone else to move into. It is hoped that first-time buyer growth will resume as we head into 2017."
