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According to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), first-time buyer business is up on average by 0.9 per cent, possibly reflecting a "turning point".
Intermediaries expected first-time buyer activity to decline by nearly five per cent at a low point in May last year and the numbers of mortgages handled by respondents has stabilised since last summer, with brokers "signalling a little more optimism".
Intermediaries also reported a "modest" 0.7 per cent increase in home mover activity and a slowdown in the decline of remortgaging (-0.4 per cent) and buy-to-let cases (-0.7 per cent).
Peter Williams, IMLA executive director, commented: "We are not out of the woods yet but there are early tentative signs that the market is starting to return - at least from intermediaries' perspective."
In other property news, new figures from Nationwide have indicated that average house prices in the UK have risen 1.2 per cent this month to £154,016.
