MARKET
Is this the year for first time buyers?
Ginetta Vedrickas looks at what the 2022 property market holds for first time buyers 2021, A BUMPER YEAR FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS With Stamp Duty incentives and continued low interest rates – despite recent increases – 2021 proved to be a good year for first time buyer numbers. Figures from the Halifax’s First-Time Buyer Review looking at house purchases throughout 2021, saw first time buyer numbers rise by what the lender describes as “a record rate”, up by 35% on 2020, in spite of what the lender sees as “low affordability”. Digging deeper into the stats, research revealed that the average age of a first time buyer is now 32 who, on buying their first home, on average puts down a deposit of £53,935 on a property with an average purchase price of £264,140.
BUYING PATTERNS OVER THE YEARS Today’s first time buyers may be on average age 32, a figure that has risen from 29 in 2011, and – across all regions across the UK – first timers are now aged over 30 on average. Looking back to 2009, when 193,940 buyers managed to get on the property ladder, recent figures show that first time buyer numbers have more than doubled. And, with a steep increase
of over 100,000 in the last 12 months, a total of 409,370 new buyers entered the housing market in 2021. Despite this surge in numbers, first time home purchasers constituted around half of all home loans.
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES All regions across the UK saw a marked rise in the number of new buyers in the market last year. The biggest increase was in London, where numbers rose by 49%. The smallest, Scotland, still saw an increase by nearly a quarter at 24%. The number of first time buyers has more than doubled over the last 10 years in every region except London.
EXPERT COMMENT 2022 is already proving to be a fiercely competitive and frenzied market. FTBs need to ensure they have their done their homework, have their mortgages or AIPs in place and be ready to act swiftly if they want to avoid missing out. We have already seen twice as many new buyers registered in January this year compared to last year, with
AVERAGE DEPOSITS FALL
more enquiries in a month than any
As more buyers entered the market, the average first time buyer deposit fell by 6% for the UK, with only Wales and Scotland noting an increase regionally. This fall in the UK average was set against a rise in the average purchase price of first homes, which meant that, overall, the gap between purchase price and deposit widened in every region. In London for example, in 2020 an average house cost £488,771 with an average deposit of £130,281. In 2021, prices in the capital on average dropped to
that FTBs are going to face a lot more
single month last year, so it’s clear competition than in previous years.
Matt Johnson, Director, JOHNS&CO.
82 First Time Buyer April/May 2022
FTB 82-83 Market April-May22.indd 86
08/03/2022 16:29
