These loans totalled £3.3bn in value which was a decrease of 11% compared to August but a 50% increase by value on September last year.
Overall in the third quarter of 2013, 74,800 loans were advanced to first-time buyers, which had a value of £10.4bn. This was an increase of 16% from 64,500 loans in the second quarter of 2013 and an increase of 34% from 56,000 loans in the same period in 2012.
The typical first-time buyer income multiple continued an upward trend with first-time buyers typically borrowing 3.39 times their gross income. Despite this, the continued downward drift in mortgage interest rates have kept borrowers' payment burden low. First-time buyers spent 19.2% of gross income to cover capital and interest payments, slightly above the 19.1% lowest figure since 2005.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented:
“The typical seasonal fall in lending in September was expected but we are seeing appreciable year-on-year and quarterly lending rises that suggests the market is continuing its recovery.
"First-time buyers were a key driver in the first half of 2013 but now home movers and remortgages are showing renewed strength which puts the market in a good position to continue momentum into the final few months of 2013 and the new year."
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, says:
"First-time buyers are finding it easier to get a mortgage, as Funding for Lending pushes down rates across the loan-to-value curve. Early data regarding the Help to Buy scheme suggest that first-time buyers are also primarily benefiting with more than 80 per cent of the Halifax's applicants so far being first-time buyers, for example. We expect the scheme to significantly boost the number of first-time buyers in coming months."
