In the latest Mortgage Solutions poll, 17% of brokers said they agreed between one to five transactions, 4% said they made between six to 10, while 2% have completed more than 11 deals since April.
David Hollingworth, communications director at London & Country, said: “I think it’s important to remember that the first-time buyer market is much smaller now and because of that, activity levels in the sector have remained fairly static.
“There are loads of factors impacting buyers purchasing a home such as high mortgage rates, getting a small deposit together or working on building a bigger deposit to access the better rates
“I’m sure many first-time buyers are questioning whether now is the right time to buy, while others have made the decision to hold off for a while and see how things pan out over the course of the year.”
He added that while the market has seen lenders offering high LTV mortgages over the last six months, the number of products available is still low.
He said: “It’s great to see lenders putting high LTV mortgages back on to the shelf but the reality is that the deals which are available up to 95% and 100% LTV are particularly thin on the ground.
“But it’s not all bad because at least we have deals to talk about in the higher LTV area and if we see confidence return, then there will be much better and broader choices for first-time buyers in the future.”
Earlier this month, Aldermore announced it would be offering buyers a three-year fixed 100% LTV guarantor mortgage, from 6.48%.
Hollingworth added: “If we look at the Aldermore deal at 100% LTV, you can say it’s expensive compared with other three-year fixed rates for those with bigger deposits, which is probably why many first-time buyers aren’t going for it.
“But actually, what first-time buyers need to understand is that 100% LTV deals would have been charging 6% or so a few years ago, so they should not rule them out completely.”
