Declining first-time buyers
Friday, 20th April 2007Buying and selling property can so stressful, you might be thinking carefully about becoming a homeowner. In the lowest ever recorded level in nearly two years, the number of first-time buyers entering the property market to either buy or sell homes has fallen seriously low in February.
The number of first-time buyer taking out homeloans fell from 26,400 to 25,600 in just a month, shown by figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
This may be in line with seasonal trends, as sometimes there can be more buyers or less, but within the same period since March 2005 the monthly total is as low as it was last year.
Indications that the recent rise in interest rates are effecting the market are beginning to show.
Whereas the number of first-time buyers may have dropped, since February the number of them choosing fixed-rate deals has gone sky high.
During that period there was a 3% increase of people buying property for the first time who picked a fixed-rate loan at 87%, compared to 84% in January.
And judging from Febraury’s data, it also showed 70% of home owners would not risk more increases in the base rate, and instead chose to lock in a deal.
The most financially stretched group in this market are first-time buyers and with the risk of yet another rise in interest rates sometime this year, they are taking caution by choosing fixed-rate deals.
The outlook for 2008 is that things could get easier or less tough with interest rates and mortgages, as the number of first-time buyers is in slow decline, so some of the heat has been taken out.
If you are having trouble selling and need a quick property sale then contact us at Soda Estates and see what we can do for you.