The report revealed that first time buyer volumes grew by 47.7% on a monthly basis, stepping up a gear from 2016’s steady start.
The total number of completed first-time buyer transactions in March rose to 32,500. This latest figure represents the highest monthly total since June 2014, when first-time buyer volumes previously reached 33,300.
A new high in the monthly number of first time buyers represents an increase of almost half (47.7%) on February’s first-time buyer total, which stood at 22,000. This means that, between February and March, the total flow of buyers managing to step foot on the ladder for the first time grew by 10,500.
On an annual basis, the total number of first time buyers in March grew by 34.9% – or 8,400 – compared to March 2015’s figure of 24,100 one year previously.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, comments: “A flurry of first-timers illustrates a property market progressing at a powerful pace as we head further into 2016. Much was made of March being the month of the buy-to-let landlord and the second-home owner. To an extent that was true – but it’s now clear none of that interest was at the expense of the bottom rungs of the ladder. Would-be first-time buyers are clamouring to own their own home, and we are seeing a sustained surge in demand for suitable homes this spring.
A continuation of the broadly positive economic climate has likely been a factor spurring would-be first-time buyers to get off the fence and onto the ladder. However, what’s really getting those numbers up is the fact that the range of support options available to first-time buyers is at last beginning to be recognised and utilised. The Help to Buy scheme is assisting those with limited capital recognise their dreams, while the Government’s offer of cut-price homes for first-time buyers is easing supply in a part of the market that typically struggles to match roaring demand with constrained supply.”
