Around 365,000 people bought their first property in 2017, the largest number of first-time buyers since 2006, according to new figures from UK Finance.
The trade body revealed that the total number of first-time buyers had jumped by 7.4% from the 340,000 who bought their first home in 2016.
However, lending for all purchases slumped in December. For example, there were 30,800 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in December, down by 5.2% from the month before.
New home mover mortgages dropped by 4.7%, while lending for buy-to-let purchases fell by 17.2%.
In contrast, the remortgage market performed well; new homeowner mortgages jumped by 7.4%, the figures showed.
Paul Smee, head of mortgages at UK Finance, said that the boost for first-time buyers was “welcome news”.
He continued: “But although the market remains competitive there is no room for complacency, with weaker December figures consistent with our market forecast of subdued growth this year.
“We are also seeing a less buoyant buy-to-let market, which continues to be impacted by recent tax and regulatory changes. This will continue to flatten gross lending volumes this year.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “Encouragingly, first-time buyers are starting to replace investors at the smaller property end of the market which is good news because they buy at the bottom and trade up whereas investors tend to buy there and stay there.”
James Cameron, director of estate agency Vesper Homes, suggested that in London at least first-time buyers were snapping up properties that would previously have appealed to landlords.
He explained: “When it comes properties costing less than £350,000 in London, once you take into account taxes, agent fees and mortgages it doesn’t make it economical for landlords to rent them as they just cover the cost. Landlords are therefore selling up so they can invest outside of London or trade up to a larger property which frees up the smaller ones for first-time buyers.”
