The mortgage market in October saw a pleasant surprise as it was revealed that around a third of the total sales were that of first time buyers in the UK, making this the largest ever share for first time buyers since the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) records began 16 years ago.
This shows a 9% increase from that of September, and the only time that first time buyers have been near to having this percentage of sales in the mortgage market was in October 2015 when the NAEA data showed that 31% of sales for that month was by first time buyers.
“This month’s report paints a positive picture for the UK housing market” commented Mark Hayward, the managing director of the NAEA. “Our findings over the last few months indicated mild uncertainty immediately following Brexit – and last month we even saw sales to FTBs fall. After shrugging off the uncertainty, we have seen an increase in supply and a rise in the number of sales to FTBS this month – proof the market is beginning to bounce back.”
There was more good news too as it was reported that the average number of house hunters per branch had risen from 333 to 440, the equivalent of 32%, which was the highest numbers recorded in the NAEA data since February according to the October Housing Market report.
“Clearly what we need now though is a clear plan as to how the government is going to tackle the chronic shortage of homes that we are facing” Hayward continued. “During the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a boost to house-building which is a start but sadly nowhere near enough. We have high hopes for the Housing White Paper as this will set the housing strategy and intent for this government going forward.”
So things are finally starting to look promising for first time buyers in the UK, hopefully now we will see these statistics continue to improve rather than dipping back down once again.
