Sales in buy-to-let in August were up by more than 50% on the corresponding month last year, hitting £3.31bn, according to research by market research firm Equifax Touchstone.

Up until August this year, buy-to-let sales reached £25.62bn – an increase of more than 30% on January to August 2014.

Equifax Touchstone said buy-to-let investors have been attracted to the market by the continued economic recovery, low interest rates and enticing deals on offer from lenders.

An increase in private rental rates of more than 10% since the start of the year has further contributed to this growth.

However, despite the year-on-year increase figures, August’s buy-to-let sales actually fell by 12.5% from the £3.77bn reported in July.

But this can be put down to an annual drop at this time of the year during the summer holiday period and it was in fact considerably less than the drop in sales of 21% in the corresponding period last year.

The data, which covers 92% of the intermediated lending market, shows that residential sales for January to August were up 14.8% compared to 2014.

Including the buy-to-let sales growth, total sales for the eight-month period were up by 18% year-on-year. The average value of a residential mortgage in August was £183,337, compared to £170,371 last August, and £158,782 for a buy-to-let mortgage, compared to £143,546 last August.

Iain Hill, relationship manager at Equifax Touchstone, said: “We have seen promising signs of growth in the buy-to-let lending market in the past year as demand continues to rise and this has been further consolidated by last month’s figures. We expect this upward trend to continue in the coming months.

“Despite a fall in sales in August, which was slightly more than expected given the robust nature of the market so far this year, it’s promising to see sustained year-on-year growth.

“The current favourable market conditions, supported by low interest rates and the greater capacity for lenders to offer mortgages, have encouraged borrowers to enter the market.”