First time homebuyers have been hit badly by the credit crunch, but it looks like things are now improving ever-so-slowly.

One sign of that is there are more mortgage lenders prepared to look at potential buyers who aren't backed by a whopping 25% deposit. During the worst of the financial crisis, some lenders weren't even considering new homebuyers unless they were packing a 40% deposit. When you think the average price of a property during that time was around £160,000, it's no wonder the market was dead.

But now, those people who found the mortgage doors of opportunity shut, because they only had a 10% deposit to put down on a home, are looking at a pretty impressive increase in the number of options open to them.

For those looking to borrow 90% of a property's value there are now 142 different mortgage products available, compared with just 114 at the beginning of January and more than double the number in May last year.

People who spend the days looking into this sort of thing say the increase in choice for people with small deposits is a further sign that competition is returning to the mortgage market as lenders become more confident. At the same time, there has been a fall in the average interest rate charged on fixed rate loans, so it's now down to 4.83%, the lowest level since June last year.

If you're looking for a mortgage, one of the best places to start is a comparison site, or a mortgage broker, who can direct you to the best deals on the market.

Mind you, the Bank of England base rate is still pegged at a minuscule 0.5% so, frankly, there's a way to go before I start feeling the love.

But for those who have been trying to get a foot on the property ladder but were just priced out of it by the hefty deposits required, I guess this is good news at last.

Let's see how long this takes to turn into some serious action of the housing market.