Are first time buyer back in the market?
According to figures released by UK Finance in August 2018, first time buyer’s activity has reached a level of not seen since June 2017.
With more first time buyers finding ways of getting out of rented and into properties of their own, the value of first time buyer’s mortgages in August was £6.1bn. This figure is 5.2% higher than in the same month in 2017.
The number of new first time buyer mortgages completed in August 2018 reached 35,000 which, year on year is 2% higher.
With an average age of 30 and average gross annual household incomes of £42,000, this marks an encouraging development for this all important primary sector of the owner occupied housing market.
Last month we reported that lenders are becoming more flexible in their criteria by allowing gifted deposits from family members.
We also mentioned that there is now a selection of lenders who will accept mortgage free homes of family members as additional security for raising deposits helping their first time buyer relatives get onto the first rung of the property ladder.
This all helps to increase the momentum of the first time buyer market.
By contrast the home mover mortgage market saw 2.3% fewer completions over the same period with 38,000 applications spread over £8.5bn of new loans granted in August 2018. This is equal to the value of loans granted in August 2017. The average gross annual household income of home movers is £57,000 and their average age is 39.
The availability of private sector rental properties came under further pressure in August due to a 13% reduction in the number of new buy to let mortgage completions. This is down 20% compared with the same month from the previous year.
As specialist whole of market and independent mortgage brokers, True Cost Mortgages have access to a range of competitive and bespoke mortgage deals that are not typically found on the high street.
Please contact us in the first instance and find out the difference we can make to the true cost of your mortgage!
