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There were 35,010 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in August – the highest monthly total seen since August 2007, according to the latest data from UK Finance.

Its figures show that the number of first-time buyer completions is 0.7% higher than in August 2018 to reach a 12-year high.

Elsewhere in the market, homemover mortgage completions have seen an annual fall of 5.5%. New buy-to-let purchase lending is down 3.3% while buy-to-let remortgaging has dipped 0.7% over the past twelve months.

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61% of first-time buyers who bought a house in the last five years relied on financial help from their parents or grandparents, according to research from Just Group.

This compares to only 20% of first-time buyers who purchased a property over 30 years ago, but is down slightly from a peak of 67% between 2009-2013.

The research also reveals the UK hotspots where the Bank of Mum of Dad is most called upon. First-time buyers in London and the North East are the most dependent on help from family compared to those in the Midlands and East regions who are almost half as likely to need this help.

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Annual house price growth dipped to 0.2% in September, the tenth month in a row in which annual price growth has been below 1%, according to the latest Nationwide house price index.

Prices saw a 0.2% monthly fall, with price falls persisting in London and the South East.

Northern Ireland remained the strongest performing home nation in Q3, though annual price growth moderated to 3.4% from 5.2% in Q2. Wales also saw a slowdown to 2.9%, from 4.2% last quarter. Annual price growth in Scotland remained subdued at 0.8% (up slightly from 0.4%). England remained the weakest performing home nation, with prices essentially flat compared with a year ago.

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Mortgage approvals remained strong in August with annual increases across both purchase and remortgage figures, according to UK Finance.

There were 85,931 mortgages approved by the main high street banks in August 2019.

The data shows that mortgage approvals for home purchase were 3.2% higher and remortgage approvals were 0.1% higher

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An ongoing period of low mortgage rates and stagnant house price growth has helped boost the number of mortgages approved to small deposit buyers, according to the latest research from e.surv.

Although the total number of residential mortgage approvals dipped by 1.9% between July and August, small deposit borrowers grew their market share from 27.9% to 28.3%. This share is also ahead of the 27.7% recorded in May and June.

Yorkshire remained the best place to buy for people with small deposits, although other regions proved almost as attractive for these buyers. Read More

Mortgage fraud has seen a 5% increase in the first six months of 2019 compared to the last six months of 2018, according to figures from fraud prevention service Cifas.

Overall, fraud by production of a false document increased by 14% and fraud by submitting altered documents increased by 32%.

Nearly half of those caught committing application fraud (45%) were aged between 31-40 years old, a 16% increase compared to the last six months of 2018. They were closely followed by those aged between 41-50 years old who saw a 6% increase.

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Two and five-year fixed rates fell further over the last month in every LTV tier except for 95%, according to the latest figures from Moneyfacts.

Its data shows that the average two-year fixed rate has fallen from 2.464% to 2.440% in the last month, while the average five-year fixed mortgage rate has fallen from 2.786% to 2.739%. Read More

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.75%.

Much of the MPC’s minutes focused on increased Brexit uncertainty, with the Committee noting that “entrenched Brexit uncertainties and slower global growth have led to the re-emergence of a margin of excess supply”. Read More

First-time buyers and homemovers saw strong growth over the summer, according to the latest figures from UK Finance.

The data shows there were 32,640 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in July, 5.8% more than in the same month in 2018.

There were 32,710 homemover mortgages completed in July 2019, 1.4% more than in July 2018.

There were 20,760 new remortgages with additional borrowing, an annual fall of 7.1%, while new pound-for-pound remortgages (with no additional borrowing) were down 12.9%. UK Finance says this has been driven by a fall in the number of fixed-rate mortgages coming to an end and the growing popularity of product transfers.

There were 5,800 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in July, 5.5% more than this time last year, and buy-to-let remortgaging rose 2% to 15,100. Read More

House prices are holding steady with a 0.3% monthly rise and 0.1% quarterly rise in August, according to the latest Halifax house price index.

House prices in August were 1.8% higher than in the same month a year earlier.

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