NAEA September Housing Market Report
House sales to first time buyers accounted for 29% of total sales in September, compared to 20% in August, a rise of nine percentage points from last month that is the highest since May this year.
The number of house-hunters searching for properties dropped this month
The number of properties available to buy at each estate agent branch fell marginally
The number of sales made to first time buyers rose in September, reveals the National Association of Estate Agents in their September Housing Market Report.
Mark Hayward, managing director, National Association of Estate Agents, said:
“It’s obviously very positive to see that the number of sales being made to FTBs has risen this month. We saw an average nine sales going through per branch in September, which means that for each branch, around three sales were made to the group. We’re seeing a whole range of new competitive mortgage products coming on to the market, which is likely to be encouraging first steppers to take the plunge, as well as the fact that the ‘impending’ interest rate rise has now been pushed back to next year at the very earliest.
“However, in order to ensure there is enough affordable housing on the market for FTBs, we need the issue of supply and demand to be addressed in a big way. Until substantial numbers of new houses are built, we won’t see every FTB reach the bottom rung of the ladder.”
Full report see: http://www.naea.co.uk/info-guides/housing-market-reports/