First time buyers up 68% on last year

      FIrst time buyers are up 68.0% on June last year, the highest rise for over 10 years according to the haart house price index

·         First time buyers now represent 44.3% of all mortgages written (June 2012, 38.0%) and are, on average, aged  32.1 years, 7 months younger than a year ago

·         Total new buyers in June across the UK are up 29.0% on a year ago

·         Total new supply of homes for sale down 5.5% on the year and 2.7% on the month suggesting a chronic shortage of stock

·         House sales remain subdued, up only 0.6% on June 2012, these constrained by the shortage of homes for sale

·         National house prices are up 0.5% on the month but remain only 0.1% up on last year. London prices are up 6.9% on the year

Paul Smith CEO of haart, comments:

“The growth in new buyers looking to purchase has been significant over the past 12 months, particularly for first time buyers, the numbers of which have risen bniy a record 68%.  However, potential buyers are being frustrated by the acute shortage of properties for sale which, in stark contrast, are down 5.5% over the past year. This has limited the growth in actual house sales.

Existing homeowners, seeking to buy, should put their own properties up for sale first. This would significantly help provide liquidity in the market, which is presently log jammed.”

National	June 2013	% change since May 2013	% change since June 2012
Ave UK house prices £ (current listed price)	199,677	+0.5%	+0.1%
First time buyer house price £ (current listed price)	147,618	- 0.9%	+2.3%
First time buyer % of all mortgages written	44.3	-1.3%	+16.3%
House sales (exchange)	63,535	- 4.4%	+0.6%
All buyer viewings per property for sale	10:1	- 3.3%	+10.1%