First time buyers still applying for mortgages

16-Jul-2007

The number of first time buyers applying for mortgages has continued to increase despite the recent series of interest rate rises, according to figures from one estate agency.

The Bank of England's decision to raise rates to 5.75 per cent earlier this month was the fifth such increase since last August, but estate agent Andrews has nonetheless announced that mortgage applications rose by 12 per cent year on year during June.

The number of borrowers opting for a fixed-rate deal also rose last month as consumers looked to avoid the impact of any further rate rises.

"A further increase had been predicted for some weeks and the majority of lenders had priced this in to the fixed rates on offer for the latter part of June. So whilst the numbers of our clients opting for fixed rate products in 2007 has remained constant at 87 per cent, during June we saw this number rise slightly to 89.5 per cent," commented Andrews Financial Services director Chris Chapman.

A recent study found that around 35 per cent of prospective first time buyers have said they would require financial help in order to get onto the housing ladder in the future.

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