Although the housing market is not a great place for a first time buyer to get onto the property ladder, new figures indicate that it may not be as bad as we fear.
Since the financial crash, it would appear that the percent of home buyers who are looking for their first property has continuously grown.
This is according to some figures from the Office of National Statistics collected by the Regulated Mortgage Survey.
Those aged 25-34 are those most likely to be looking for their first home to buy, and the percent of people in this age range buying now seems to be higher than in 2007, before the financial crash.
Furthermore, deposits as a percentage of the overall value are gradually going down, year by year. The Help to Buy schemes have been targeting this, offering deposits from as low as 5 per cent, compared to the more traditional 20 per cent.
With lower deposits, the easier it is for first time buyers to scrape together enough cash to get onto the property ladder.
However, this may be being nullified by the fact that housing prices are rising.
“First time buyer numbers are increasing, but from a low based. The Help to Buy scheme has been massively helpful but with lenders also prepared to offer higher loan-to-value mortgages beyond the scheme, there is more choice for borrowers at cheaper rates,” so said Jonathan Harris, the director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris.
One of the major factors which doesn’t seem to have undergone a huge amount of improvement is the supply. Should more homes be built, more can be bought, and the prices will come down.
The market is very convoluted and confusing, as such that it is difficult to know truly whether it is improving or not. Hopefully with time, this will get better and homes will begin to come into the reach of people who desperately want to become homeowners.
