First-time buyer numbers have increased, property chain LSL reported this morning.
It said that numbers of first-time buyers rose by over 30,000 in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year.
The report chimes with what Halifax has also said, but it is in sharp contradiction to this week’s outstandingly gloomy NAEA assessment.
The NAEA said that in June, only 3% of buyers were first-timers aged under 30 – a claim that earned it extensive media headlines, including the front page splash in the Daily Mail, plus a leader comment in the same newspaper.
But LSL this morning says that in the six months to the end of June, there were more first-time buyers than at any time since 2007.
LSL, parent company of Your Move and Reeds Rains, reported on first-time buyer transactions after scaling up its own figures.
In total, it estimates there were 146,600 first-time buyer transactions in the six months to the end of June, compared with 115,700 in the same period last year.
In June itself, it says there were 26,500 first-time buyer sales, 10% more than 12 months ago.
LSL also says that last month, 93% of tenants registered with Your Move and Reeds Rains declared their ambition to become home owners, with 17% expecting to buy in the near future.
According to LSL, in June, 45% of first-time buyers completely self-financed their purchase – in other words, did not need help from the Bank of Mum and Dad, money from an inheritance, or Help to Buy.
Today’s LSL report is also sharply at odds with the NAEA regarding the age of first-time buyers.
While the NAEA claimed that only 3% of buyers in June were under the age of 30, Halifax said that the average age of a first-timer during the six months to the end of June was 30.
LSL’s findings veer towards Halifax, saying that the average age of a first-time buyer in London in June was 31 and the average age outside London was 29.
This link goes to a fuller discussion about the number of first-time buyers:
"The NAEA said that in June, only 3% of buyers were first-timers aged under 30…" You SERIOUSLY have to question HOW the NAEA would know this – considering they know SQUAT about most other things these days…
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