The number of remortgage approvals soared 40% in the last 12 months to hit 21,415 in July.
House purchase approvals also rose strongly over the year, up 31% to 37,200 in July, according to new figures from the British Bankers' Association.
It said government assistance with mortgage lending is helping first-time buyers and housing chains generally.
And brokers are benefiting from the boom, as more buyers and homeowners turn to intermediaries for mortgage advice.
Mortgage approvals in July totalled £9.1 billion, almost 11% higher than the average figure for the previous six months, of £8.2 billion.
Despite this strong rise in gross mortgage approvals, net lending overall remained flat, due to high mortgage capital repayments and redemptions, including homeowners moving between lenders.
Over the past 12 months, net mortgage borrowing fell 0.2%.
BBA statistics director, David Dooks said: "Mortgage activity has strengthened during 2013 with the help of government schemes but high repayments and redemptions mean, however, that we are not seeing increases in net mortgage borrowing for the high street banks.
"Consumer credit growth rate has also risen this year but increased credit card borrowing has reduced the use of personal loans."
The rise in the number of new loans and remortgages is good news for brokers, said Jeremy Duncombe, director at the Legal & General Mortgage Club. “It’s a sure sign of improved confidence in the market that lenders have a bigger appetite to lend, and it’s a great time for the consumer to take advantage of historically low rates in the knowledge that Mr Carney expects rates to remain low for some time to come.
"As lending figures increase, recent CML figures have also shown that more people are looking to mortgage brokers for advice with their biggest purchase. Intermediaries accounted for 57.5% of all mortgages in Q2 – up from 53.5% in Q1 – highlighting the importance of the sector.
“Lenders are increasingly recognising the value of an intermediary to deliver the volume, quality and cost effectiveness that they need, as they look to grow their gross lending on the back of the recent Funding for Lending Scheme and Help to Buy initiatives.”
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