11
Nov
Surge in number of mortgages for first-time buyers
First-time buyers looking to purchase properties for sale in the UK
will be pleased to hear that there has been a rise in the number of
mortgages available for them.
According to research by moneysupermarket.com, there has been a 22
per cent increase in the number of financial products catered for
first-time buyers since the start of the year.
This includes a 76 per cent rise in the number of mortgages at 80
per cent loan-to-value (LTV), meaning that the potential homeowner
will have to pay 20 per cent of the value of the property as a
deposit.
The findings also revealed that the mortgage rates for products
with low deposits are also improving, with the average rate for a
mortgage at 90 per cent LTV dropping to 5.82 since January 2010, a
decline of 0.33 per cent.
Site editor of moneysupermarket.com Clare Francis said that these
results are "encouraging".
"First-time buyers are integral to keeping the housing market
moving - if there aren't enough people jumping on at the bottom the
market will eventually grind to a halt," she remarked.
This comes after Rightmove revealed earlier this week that the
number of first-time buyers purchasing properties for sale in the
UK rose from 22 per cent to 26 per cent over the previous quarter
of 2010. 