Lenders are aggressively targeting first-time buyers with a flurry of new 95pc mortgage deals.
The number of available mortgage deals where only a 5pc deposit is needed is up 14pc year-on-year, to 287 in June, according to Moneyfacts, the financial data service. In June 2009 there were only six such deals available to borrowers.
This comes as house prices fell for a third month in a row in May, registering the biggest sustained decline since the post-crisis slump of 2009.
At the same tine, the proportion of successful mortgage applications made by first-time buyers is also rising quickly.
More than two-thirds (67pc) of applications made via brokers went on to completion during the first three months of this year. This compares with 48pc in the same period last year.
The data, published by Imla, the broker trade body, shows the surge in first-time buyers is propping up the market.
This week AA Mortgages, a division of the breakdown company, became the latest lender to launch a new range of two and five-year fixed mortgages for 5pc and 10pc deposits.
While it previously offered mortgages for deposits as low as this, they were only available to existing AA customers.
Someone with a 5pc deposit would pay 3.82pc for a two-year fixed rate with no fee and £400 cashback. Its five-year fix for 5pc deposit is the market leading rate at 3.99pc.
Last month Yorkshire Building Society cut the rates on its deals for those with small deposits.