First-Time Buyers Market Hits Record High For First Time In Over 12 Years

Published: 10/03/2020

Despite Brexit, political uncertainty and Millennials supposedly spending too much dosh on avocado toast, it would appear that there are loads of young people buying properties right now. 

According to recent figures, first-time buyers reached an estimated 353,436 in 2019. This is the highest level since 2007.

The Yorkshire Building Society statistics indicate that this is the fifth time in six years that the number of people buying their first home with a mortgage exceeded 300,000.

The data also revealed that almost twice as many first-buyers secured a mortgage in 2019 as at the start of the financial crisis in 2008 - when the figure was 191,040 - with those entering the property market now accounting for 51 per cent of all homes purchased with a mortgage in 2019. In dramatic contrast, in 2008, this share was just 38 per cent.

In total, FTBs represent over half of all homes bought with a mortgage.

Not surprisingly, London remains the most expensive location for FTBs to purchase property, with an average price of £415,618, followed by the South East at £264,097.

Why are so many FTBs jumping on the property ladder right now?