First Time Buyers

The first six months of 2016 has proved to be positive for home buyers nationwide, as the number of people able to get themselves a footing on the property ladder increased by a surprising level.

According to the latest findings from Halifax in its new buyers review, there was a rise of ten per cent in the number of first-time buyers coming to market in the 2016 June to January period when compared to the same time last year, with 154,200 in 2016, compared to just 140,500 in the first six months of 2015.

This means that the number of buyers in the first half of the year who were getting themselves a home for the first time, hit double the level that was experienced in the lowest six-month period on record back in 2009. However, one figure that shows how the market has changed in the last ten years, even at a time when the market has been healthy for buyers, there are still nearly 40,000 fewer new buyers in 2016 than there were in the first half of 2006.

Research also shows that first-timers are now paying more than they have in the past to get themselves a place on the property ladder. In the past 12 months alone, the price of getting a home for the first time has climbed to £199,414, which is 12 per cent higher than a year ago. 

"There was a further increase in the number of first time buyers in the first half of the year with the total exceeding 100,000 in the first six months of each year since 2012. This rise has been broadly in line with a general improvement in market activity and is likely to have been helped by government measures including the Help to Buy scheme," said Chris Gowland, mortgages director at the Halifax.

"Although numbers remain below their previous peaks and many potential first time buyers are facing escalating house prices and deposit sizes, record low mortgage rates continue to make buying seem a more attractive option than renting," he added.

Article by Gary Whittaker at Rentman.