Despite the Bank of England base rate being raised at the start of August, mortgage rates have remained comparatively cheap, tempting more borrowers into the market, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv.
First-time buyers have also continued to come to market, taking a larger share of mortgage approvals than a month ago.
Some 24.6% of all loans went to borrowers with smaller deposits in October, higher than the 24.2% recorded in September.
Richard Sexton, director at e.surv, said that with rates still at historically low levels across the board, there are great deals to be found at both high street mortgage lenders and more specialist banks.
He added: “Homeowners should chat to a mortgage broker to see what deals are available to them, and capitalise while mortgage loans are still available with cheap rates.”
Small deposit borrowers continue to increase market share
The mortgage market continued its recent shift towards buyers with smaller deposits, with an increase in lending to this group in October.
In October, 29.6% of all loans went to borrowers with large deposits, defined by this survey as borrowers with a deposit of 60% or more. This figure is lower than the 30% market share recorded a month ago.
It is also lower than the 32.5% recorded in August and even further from the 33.8% seen in July.
On an absolute basis, the number of small deposit borrowers grew from 16,142 to 16,485.
Richard Sexton said that borrowers with smaller deposits, including many first-time buyers, saw their market share increase this month.
Regional overview
Four regions recorded a greater number of loans to small deposit borrowers than their large deposit counterparts this month.
Yorkshire was the area with the highest market share for small deposit borrowers, recording 33.7%, compared to just 21.1% for large deposit borrowers.
The North West saw 31.2% of loans go to small deposit borrowers versus 23.3% for those with large deposits while in Northern Ireland this was 29.5% against 24.7%.
The final region was the Midlands, where 27.1% of loans went to small deposit borrowers compared to 25.7% for those with large deposits.
London was the part of the country most dominated by those with larger deposits, even though the proportion dipped below 40%. In the capital, 39.8% of all loans went to those with large deposits, versus just 14.7% for those with smaller cash piles.
The next biggest region for those with large deposits was the South East, where 34.7% of all loans went to this part of the market. This was followed by the South and South Wales, where the figure was 31.8%.
