In the 12 months to March product search data from Mortgage 27 revealed that 27% of people using the sourcing tool were looking for a mortgage above 90% LTV, an increase of 8% year-on-year.
At the opposite end of the scale borrowers searching for a mortgage up to 60% LTV has fallen back in the same time period from 33% to 23%.
MAB said this was due to more choice higher up the LTV curve.
And while the Help to Buy scheme has opened up the 90% plus market, which peaked at 29% in Q4 2013 when the mortgage indemnity phase was launched, a bolder consumer appetite is driving up demand.
The trend over the last 12 months has been for consumers to seek slightly larger loans, averaging £142,375 compared to £139,990 a year ago, on cheaper properties, averaging £203,244, which is a drop of 5%.
Meanwhile lower earners have shown a greater interest in getting a mortgage.
The average combined income of mortgage seekers has dropped by over £10,000 in the last year from £54,036 in Q1 2013 to £43,964 in Q1 2014.
This is the lowest figure since records began almost four years ago.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “The last 12 months have seen consumer faith restored in the mortgage market with thousands finding new hope of securing a deal.
“Government and lenders have clearly captured the mood and responded to a generational need by offering better options for buyers with relatively small deposits.”
Murphy said lower earners are plucking up the courage to explore their options and borrowing interest is coming from consumers with modest ambitions of buying a home rather than high-end house hunters.
Purchases were the main type of mortgage being sought out by borrowers accounting for 70% of enquiries compared to 60% in the previous year.
Remortgage searches in Q1 2014 were at their highest point in over a year.
More than one in three consumers searched for a remortgage deal (35%), up from 27% in Q4 2013.
But reports suggest that these searches are not always translating into successful transactions.
Recent figures show the number of remortgage loans fell by a fifth in March to 19,287 – the lowest number recorded since 2005, as lenders tightened up criteria ahead of the Mortgage Market Review.
