Figures from UK Finance show that more First Time Buyers got a foothold in the property market in November, before the Christmas lull.
The UK Finance’s Mortgage Trends Update for November 2018 revealed that there were 36,200 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 5.8% more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.0bn of new lending in the month was 9.1% more year-on-year. The data showed that the average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.
Figures from the Land Registry show that the average First Time Buyer in England now pays £207,538 for their first property. This is 2.3% more than a year earlier, but prices are unchanged from a month earlier.
However, in London First Time Buyers will pay an average of £413,744 to get on the property ladder. This reflects a -0.9% drop from a year earlier, and a 1.1% from October 2018.
Overall, there were 36,200 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 1.1% more than in the same month a year earlier. The £7.8bn of new lending in the month was 4% more year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £55,000.
There were 6,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 9% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.8bn of lending in the month, 11.1% down year-on-year.
Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance said, “A mixture of competitive deals and schemes including Help to Buy saw even more first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder during November.
“Meanwhile, homeowner remortgaging activity has steadied, after reaching its highest level in a decade the previous month as a large number of fixed-rate deals came to an end.
“In the buy-to-let market new home purchases remain subdued, while remortgaging continues to grow as landlords lock into attractive rates.”
