First time buyer mortgages at lowest level in seventeen years

The number of mortgages being granted to first time buyers has dropped to its lowest level in seventeen years according to recently released figures. The data shows that the level of first time buyer mortgages being granted has fallen to its lowest since 1993. In the twelve months leading up to February first time buyer mortgages fell to below 350,000 for the first time in seventeen years.

The data was released by GfK Financial, and showed that during the course of the year only 347,000 first time buyers managed to get a mortgage loan. This was more than 50 percent lower than the 2004/2005 period, when the market was at its peak and around 700,000 mortgages were granted to first time buyers.

The data also indicated that around 800,000 first time buyers that were aged thirty and under were hoping to be able to get onto the property ladder over the course of this year, but only around half of them are likely to achieve their goal due to the current mortgage and financial markets. A number of factors are thought to be affecting the situation for first time buyers, and this includes continued restriction on mortgage lending, and inadequate supply of properties, and a freeze on salaries.

The level of deposit that first time buyers now need is another continued issue that is affecting the number of first time buyers able to get an affordable mortgage loan, and whilst some lenders have relaxed the deposit requirement slightly first time buyers are still looking at around a minimum of 10 percent.

One would be first time buyer said: “I’ve given up trying to get on the property ladder for the moment, because I can’t raise the deposit that lenders are looking for and my credit isn’t brilliant so I might not be able to get a mortgage at all.”