How easy is it to get a mortgage nowadays?

A lot of people will tell you it`s hard to get a mortgage these days - particularly if you`re a first-time buyer - and while this is often the case (mortgage lenders are being cautious about who they lend to and how much they are prepared to lend), things could actually be getting a little easier than you might expect - at least for now, anyway.

Take, for example, the size of deposit needed to get a mortgage; this is now at its lowest level since 2008, as reported on lovemoney.com, which tells us that the average loan-to-value (LTV - the amount of money you can borrow compared with the value of your property) is now at its highest level since April 2008 (60.8%).

What`s more, lenders are lowering interest rates on various mortgage deals.

And as figures from moneyfacts.co.uk show, the actual number of mortgages with higher LTVs has increased considerably since last April:

• The number of 90% LTV mortgages has increased from 140 in April 2010 to 228 in April 2011.
• The number of 85% LTV mortgages has increased from 321 in April 2010 to 536 this April.
• The number of 80% LTV mortgages was 270 in April 2010, but now stands at 392.

So it looks like things are improving, but will it last? And are we actually seeing the recovery of the mortgage market?

Bob Pannell, CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) chief economist, said last month that: "Lenders expect mortgage credit availability to improve this quarter."

Yet lovemoney.com speculates that if the recent price cuts `are the result of a perfect storm`, we may be `sat in its eye - enjoying the calm before the battering winds set in`.

After all, the site continues, the figures for mortgage approvals will reveal a `stagnant market where even if mortgage affordability is high, availability is not`.

Looking back to just last year, for example, CML figures show us that March 2011 saw 37,800 house purchase loans - a fall of 17% on the figure from March 2010.

Tags: mortgage, mortgage market, mortgages, mortgage application, mortgage lenders, deposit, Council of Mortgage Lenders, lending

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