In February, one in six tenants (16%) said that housing was the issue that would be most likely to affect their vote, while 16% reported healthcare as their foremost concern – with both percentages unchanged from December.
However, the political build-up has had relatively little impact on appetite for property. More than eight in ten first timers (80%) said that the upcoming General Election has had no impact on their decision to buy in February, up slightly from 78% in December.
There were 21,000 first-time buyer completions in February 2015, 10.5% more than 19,000 in January but 5.8% lower than 22,300 twelve months ago.
Meanwhile, the average purchase price of first-time buyer properties was £143,767 in February, 0.8% higher than a year ago. First-time buyer deposits averaged £25,080 in February, 1.5% higher than £24,721 a year before, despite additional support for higher LTV borrowers in the form of Help to Buy.
However, the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv revealed a recent uptick in house purchase approvals to borrowers with smaller deposits. Borrowers with deposits worth 15% or less of their property’s value accounted for the largest portion of house purchase lending in five months in February.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, comments: “First-time buyers came back to the market in force in February, and mortgage lending data suggests this revival will carry through into the next few months. Wages are recovering, just as inflation has fallen to zero for the first time in decades, helped by cut-price fuel costs. Many buyers are feeling richer as a result, and they are looking to take advantage of cheap mortgage rates now, before prices have the chance to climb higher.”
Regional differences
In February, the average first-time buyer in London and the South East was 31 years old and earning £46,200. This compares to an average first time buyer age of 30 years and income of £33,100 in the rest of the UK.
The average purchase price paid by first-time buyers in London was £300,354 in the three months to February 2015, while Northern Ireland was the cheapest region at an average of £96,068.
