Mortgage lending was 57% higher than in March 2011 and first-time buyers accounted for 42% of total house purchase loans, the highest proportion since 2001.
Of those buyers taking out a mortgage in March, 63% bought a property valued between £125,000 and £250,000 so were exempt Stamp Duty.
The CML said that 27,200 loans were taken out by home movers in March, up by 25% compared to February.
Remortgage activity, on the other hand, was essentially flat. The CML said that £3.6bn was advanced in the month, unchanged from February, and 14% lower than March last year.
CML director-general, Paul Smee said: “We expected this significant increase in borrowing for March because of the Stamp Duty holiday. However, if lending follows the same pattern as after previous Stamp Duty concessions, we will likely see a drop in activity in the next few months.
“It will take some time before we can judge whether other initiatives such as the NewBuy scheme and the reinvigorated Right to Buy will compensate for this effect.”
In separate research, financial information firm Moneyfacts found that the average rate of a 90% LTV mortgage has fallen steadily over the past five years to 5.44%.
The number of 90% deals has, in turn, increased from 76 in May 2009 to 299 today.
Louise Holmes, spokesperson for Moneyfacts, said: “The rising cost of living and unemployment has also had a massive impact on prospective buyers’ ability to save for their first home.
“Demand for high LTV mortgages is, and always will, be high. Lenders have shown they recognise this by edging cautiously back into this area of the market with some competitive deals of late. However, strict underwriting and credit checks mean that approvals are at a premium.
“News of increased choice and lower rates in this sector of the mortgage market will be music to the ears of potential borrowers, whose voices finally appear to have been heard.”
