UK Finance figures show that more first-time buyers got their foot on the property ladder in November, before the Christmas slowdown.
Its Mortgage Trends Update for November 2018 indicated that 36,200 new mortgages for first-time buyers were completed that month. This is a 5.8% increase over November 2017. At £6.0bn, the new lending was up by 9.1% year-on-year. The figures revealed that the average first-time homebuyer is 30 years old and has a £42,000 gross household income.
Land Registry figures show that in England, the average first-time buyer purchases their first property for £207,538. This is 2.3% higher than last year, but property prices are the same from the month before.
In London, however, first-time buyers in 2019 will pay £413,744 on average to get on the property ladder. This is a drop of 0.9% from a year ago and an increase of 1.1% from October 2018.
In November, 36,200 new homeowner mortgages were completed, which 1.1% higher than in October. New lending totalled £7.8bn, which is 4% higher year on year. In London, the average first-time buyers in 2019 are 39 and have a £55,000 gross annual income.
The total number of new buy-to-let purchase mortgages in November was 6,100, which is 9% fewer than in November 2017. Value-wise, this was £0.8bn of lending, down 111% from the year before.
UK Finance Director of Mortgages Jackie Bennett said that a combination of competitive schemes and dealers helped a growing number of first-time buyers purchase a home during November.
In the meantime, there has been a steadying in homeowner remortgaging, after reaching its highest point in a decade as many fixed-rate deals concluded. In the buy-to-let market, purchases continue to be slow while remortgaging is on the rise due to attractive rates.
Source: CRL