Confidence levels amongst financial advisers are at their highest since 2008, according to Paragon Mortgages’ latest Financial Advisors Confidence Tracking (FACT) Index.

This is being driven by a strong recovery in the first-time buyer market, with volumes of first-time buyer lending having recovered to levels last seen in 2001.

The report also reveals an ongoing shift in preferences towards longer-term fixed rates, with five year fixes experiencing their second quarter of successive growth and now accounting for a third of all mortgage cases, up around 10% since 2013.

Of all buy-to-let cases, more than a third were remortgages (36%) up from 29% in Q2, a trend largely driven by landlords seeking better interest rates.

John Heron (pictured), managing director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “Mortgage intermediaries are telling us that they are more confident now than they have been at any time since the financial crisis.

“It is clear that a strong recovery across all lending is driving this, with a particular improvement in first-time buyer numbers and buy-to-let.”