Sluggish demand among first-time buyers drove completion numbers down in December 2014.
The number of completed property sales to first-time buyers reached 24,800 in December, down by 4.2 per cent on November and by 7.8 per cent on the previous year, according to the latest First Time Buyer Opinion Barometer from Your Move and Reeds Rains.
The cool down on the housing market at the year’s end, however, had little effect on the overall figures for 2014. First-time buyer completions for the whole year were 15 per cent higher than in 2013.
Stamp duty changes towards the end of the year provided for average savings of £950 on the average property price of £155,413 and helped first-time buyers scrape up more money for bigger deposits. The average purchase price was 3 per cent higher than a year ago.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, comments: “On paper, now is a fantastic time to get onto the housing ladder. Mortgage rates are at record lows, pushed downwards by falling inflation and rising certainty that an interest rate rise will be put off until the tail end of the year – if then. At the same time, wages are healthier, and first-timers are seeing their finances recover from the plague of the recession. On top of this, the government has extended an additional helping hand to first-timers with the revision of stamp duty, which will particularly benefit those buying in the capital. And the Help to Buy scheme remains in place, providing a shortcut to saving for a large deposit, meaning first-timers can lock into the property market before prices climb further.
“But despite this combination of favourable conditions, the number of first-time buyers has fallen back. Mortgages are more accessible than ever, but fewer buyers are taking advantage of the finance on offer. Misunderstanding over new regulation, global economic uncertainty and a lack of cheap homes are stymieing the recovery in first-time buyer numbers, causing a temporary dip in December.”
