The housing market is set to improve in the coming year. Lender's Group CML has said that the industry can expect a more stable and positive 2013.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders said a steady increase in lending for house purchases signalled more activity.
Lending to home movers also increased, contributing to a boost in house purchase lending. Remortgage lending, while still relatively modest, reached its highest level in 6 months.
First-time buyers are still required to pay an average deposit of 20% to get on the property ladder.
This group accounted for four in 10 of all house purchase loans in October.
Homeownership has dropped in England and Wales since 2011, largely because people are finding it difficult to secure a mortagage.
Some 64% of households - 14.9 million people - owned their own home in 2011, either with a mortgage, loan, or outright. This was a drop of four percentage points since 2001.
