Mortgage Brain has reported that the volume of ESIS produced by its sourcing systems is now reaching levels very close to those seen before the pandemic.

ESIS numbers have risen for six consecutive weeks, and rose by 18.4% last week on the preceding seven days. Volumes are now down by just 9.6% on the nine-week average to 16th March, having risen by 51.3% since the housing market formally reopened four weeks ago.

The number of available products has also continued its steady rise, increasing by 4.4% last week to a total of 9,017. This is up by 21.4% on the post-pandemic low point of the week ending the 12th April. However, it remains 38.6% down on the nine-week average to 16th March.

In addition, the data shows that the breakdown of residential lending between purchase and remortgage has returned to the same mix seen before the pandemic, as has the LTV mix with the exception of lending at above 90% LTV. Products with an LTV of 90% or more accounted for just 1.4% of ESIS produced last week, down from 6.6% pre pandemic.

Mark Lofthouse, CEO at Mortgage Brain, said: “The turnaround in ESIS numbers is extraordinary. Few would have believed just five weeks ago that we would see volumes so close to those seen before the pandemic took hold. The continued improvement in mortgage numbers is also encouraging, though the fact that lending above 90% LTV remains so starkly down on the levels we typically saw just a few months ago is a reminder that lenders remain cautious.

“We are still in early days of this recovery, so only time will tell how sustainable the increase in both product numbers and ESIS volumes are. But the fact that we have now seen sustained growth for a number of weeks provides good cause for optimism.”