The mortgage market regained some equilibrium in May following dips in lending in the aftermath of the buy-to-let Stamp Duty rush, according to industry figures.

Lending to home buyers was up 13% month on month and 5% annually to 53,800 loans amounting to £9.4bn, the Council of Mortgage lenders has revealed.

Meanwhile, first-time buyers borrowed £4.3bn, this equated to 27,500 loans, up 9% month-on-month and 16% year-on-year.

Home movers borrowed £5.1bn, taking out 26,300 loans, up 18% month-on-month but down 5% on May 2015, while remortgage activity was down 12% on April but up 25% compared with May 2015 at 30,900 loans.

Landlord borrowing actually went up 3% compared with April but down 8% compared to May 2015 to 16,600 loans in total.

The typical loan size for first-time buyers increased to £131,000 from £130,000 in April, while the household income of borrowers also increasing slightly from £39,700 in April to £40,000 in May, which meant the income multiple went up from 3.46 to 3.51.

Home movers showed a similar trend with the average amount borrowed increasing to £166,000 from £163,000 in April, and the average household income of a home mover also increasing to £53,300 from £52,500. This meant the income multiple went down from 3.26 to 3.25 month-on-month.

Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “There was a sense of the market regaining some equilibrium in May, following the Stamp Duty driven spike in March and the subsequent dip in April.

“For the second month running, first-time buyers borrowed more loans than home movers, the first time in 20 years that this has been the case.

“Buy-to-let continues at lower levels as expected, after the change to Stamp Duty.

“Brexit, and its likely effect on the market, is a question to which the answer will not immediately be forthcoming. Lenders will continue to be open for business as usual, but lending volumes may be affected by uncertain consumer sentiment.”

Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “The Council of Mortgage Lenders data paints a positive picture of the market in May, with first-time buyers borrowing more than home movers for the second month running. This reflects the fact that affordability metrics for those getting on to the property ladder remained stable.

“While the data is for May and therefore pre-referendum, what we can draw from this is that with home mover, first-time buyer and remortgage figures all up on 2015, the underlying confidence shown by consumers prior to June 23 is likely to underpin activity for the next few months whilst the market settles, given that we’ve seen evidence in recent weeks that lenders are re-pricing downwards on some products.”

David Whitaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business, was also pretty bullish, adding: “At a guess I think we can expect the market to remain less vibrant until both the political and economic direction of travel for the country as a whole is more clearly defined.

“That said, in a post-Brexit world, people will still need homes and renting will remain in sharp demand.

“Property investors’ long-term prospects remain positive.”