First time buyers slowly return to property

Grovelawn Financial News 14/05/2009

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Mortgage lending still a stumbling block

A welcome return of first time buyers, through figures released from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that the housing market could improve at least in the short term.

The number of successful property transactions jumped by 36 per cent, but in the same breath the CML stressed that this figure still had a long way to go if there was to be any real return to the market for first time purchasers due to lack of mortgage finance made available to those with anything less than a large deposit and very good credit rating.

The figure of 12,500 was still 30 per cent fewer than in March 2008.

The CML also said that the number of home owners refinancing their current mortgages remained low. Head of research for the CML, Bob Panell, said that “Because the flow of lending is still constrained, there is a sharp dividing line in the housing and mortgage markets between those who can raise a substantial deposit and those who cant.”

The average amount borrowed by first time buyers was three times their annual income with a deposit of 25 per cent, on the average property purchased that would equate to £30,000.

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