Return of first time buyers boosts housing market despite 35% property price surge in five years 

Return of first time buyers boosts housing market despite 35% property price surge in five years

  • Across the UK there were 170,000 existing homeowners moving house in 2018 
  • It’s the first time since 1995 first-time buyers has been higher than home-movers 
  • The average paid by movers fsurged by 35 per cent between 2013 and 2018

First-time buyers are the driving force in the housing market for the first time in more than 20 years, figures show.

Across the UK there were 170,000 existing homeowners moving house in the first half of 2018 compared with 175,500 first-time buyers.

It was the first six-month period when the number of first-time buyers had been higher than home-mover numbers since the first half of 1995, said the Lloyds Bank Homemover Review, which only looked at properties bought with a mortgage.

Andrew Mason, of Lloyds, said: ‘Despite continuing low mortgage rates, the home-mover market has stabilised in the first half of this year to leave first-time buyers now driving housing activity.

The average price paid by home- movers for a property has surged by 35 per cent from £219,479 in 2013 to £296,936 in 2018

‘This may be in part due to the [Government’s] Help to Buy scheme enabling first-time buyers to purchase a new property, combined with the low availability of the “right type” of homes for those looking to move up the housing ladder.

‘The costs of moving house and potential interest rate rises may also be weighing on potential home-buyers’ minds.’

The average price paid by home- movers for a property has surged by 35 per cent from £219,479 in 2013 to £296,936 in 2018, Lloyds said.

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