October sees a decline in first-time buyer activity

Research reveals that first-time buyer transactions slowed in recent months, with both completions and the size of average deposits on the decline.

Your Move and Reeds Rains’ first-time buyer tracker has found that there were 28,100 first-time buyer completions in October 2015.

This is an 8.5% drop from the previous three months. The average deposit also fell by 2.1% to £21,611 over the same period.

The news comes after Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the London Help to Buy Scheme in his Autumn Statement yesterday, in which he also pledged fresh support for shared ownership schemes.

Both schemes aim to provide first-time buyers with a helping hand onto the property ladder, although the specifics of the schemes are yet to be detailed in full.

Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said:

"First-time buyer sales are enduring a slight winter chill this month. As Christmas fast approaches – alongside all the additional costs that come with it – many will be holding off until the New Year before they put their first foot on the property ladder.

"Despite the slight slowdown, however, the underlying figures remain strong. Sales totals are still high relative to previous years, with no sign that they're about to slide back to the doldrums of the 2012 and 2013 period.

"Moreover, with real-terms wages continuing to outstrip inflation and consumer confidence heading ever upwards, there's every potential for the property market to kick back up a gear just after the New Year."

 

 

27th November 2015