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First-time buyer transactions up on last year

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  • 26/09/2014
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First-time buyer transactions up on last year
The number of first-time buyer transactions in August was up on the same month last year, figures from Your Move and Reeds Rains have shown.

Research by the estate agency chains found the number of transactions in August, traditionally a quiet month for the housing market, reached 28,300. This is 7.2% up on the same month last year.

Over the same period the average first-time buyer deposit has dropped to £27,114, a fall of 6.2%.

The average price of a first-time buyer property is now £151,942, a small increase on the last year, showing the tick up in high LTV lending over the last 12 months.

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, said: “First-time buyers remain keen to get a foot on the housing ladder and this is essential to keep the housing market moving.

“For seven years, a whole host of new buyers were unable to access the property market, as wages remained stagnant while the cost of living grew making saving for deposits difficult for many.

“But Help to Buy – and the whole host of other higher LTV options now being offered by lenders – have been helping repair the damage caused by the financial crisis, and providing a means for first-timers to get onto the ladder at long last.”

Research into potential first-time buyers showed 93% of tenants want to become homeowners. Of this group 17% expect to buy before the end of the year.

Brown added: “An increase in more affordable housing stock would do wonders to ease the burden of getting on the property ladder in London – which is one of the toughest property markets in the country to break into.”

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