The third quarter market survey released by Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) showed aspiring buyers searching for a new mortgage had an average combined income of £56,559 in Q3 2014.

This was up by 5% from £53,879 in Q2 2014 and up 21% year-on-year from £46,905 in Q3 2013.

The latest annual wage growth recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is just 0.8%, suggesting the new focus on affordability assessments under the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) regime is attracting buyers with greater financial resources.

Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “Affordability assessments have shone a spotlight on the detail of borrowers’ incomes and expenditure.

“As a result, it may have dampened some speculative interest from lower earners, and while there is still plenty of appetite from prospective purchasers, it is important that the industry continues to work hard to promote affordable options such as shared equity and shared ownership to maintain access to the property ladder.”

Buy-to-let investors and residential purchasers also appear to be battling for similarly-priced properties, according to the tracker survey.

The average property valuation among aspiring buy-to-let borrowers fell by 6% from £225,234 in Q2 2014 to £212,362 in Q3 2014, while the average property valuation among aspiring homebuyers rose by 4% from £205,484 to £214,615.

It leaves a gap closed to just £2,253 between the properties targeted by would-be homeowners and BTL borrowers in Q3, down from £19,750 in Q2 2014.

Murphy said: “A drop in the average property valuation among aspiring BTL borrowers suggests that appetite for investing is focusing more on the lower end of the property market.

Like homeowners, existing landlords will also have benefitted from recent equity gains and this may be helping them put up more of a deposit and scale back their borrowing needs.”