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Worst quarter for first-time buyers in two years
- First-time buyer (FTB) transactions drop to 60,900 in the first quarter – lowest since Q1 2013 (51,000)
- March 2015 sees 23,300 first-time buyers, up since winter drop-off, but still 3.7% lower than March 2014
- Comes despite FTBs paying the lowest mortgage rates in over four years – averaging 3.64% in March
- Average first-time deposit now under £25,000, as LTVs reach 83.5% – the second-highest in four years
The first quarter of 2015 has seen the lowest number of first-time buyers complete property transactions for two years, according to the latest First Time Buyer Tracker from Your Move.
The total number of first-time buyer (FTB) transactions for the first quarter of 2015 stood at 60,900, a sharp fall from 79,900 in 2014 Q4 and the lowest quarterly total since Q1 2013 – when 51,000 new buyers joined the property ladder.
In the latest figures for March 2015, the monthly total for UK first-time buyer transactions now stands at 23,300. While higher than the often quiet months of January and February (up 24.6% on February’s total) this still represents fewer new buyers than the same month a year ago – down 3.7% since March 2014.
The news comes despite a 3.64% average mortgage rate for first-time buyers in March – the lowest in over five years – and an average loan to value ratio (LTV) for March’s first-time buyers of 83.5%, the highest in a year (since April 2014).
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