First-time buyers 'vital for housing sector recovery'

27-Apr-2009

Without first-time buyers, there can be no broad-based recovery in the UK property market.

At least that is the opinion of housing intelligence group Hometrack, which suggests people getting on to the first rung of the property ladder is vital for the sector to grow.

Richard Donnell, the company's director of research, said that those looking for their first mortgages are currently finding it difficult to raise the required funds, despite interest rates lowering to 0.5 per cent in recent months.

He remarked: "In the rush to seek out the green shoots of recovery, the importance of first-time buyers in driving the market is often underestimated, and the fact remains that the majority remain affordability constrained and unable to access mortgage finance."

His comments come after Hometrack revealed that house prices dropped at the lowest monthly rate for almost a year last month.

Although this pattern is encouraging, the firm has emphasised that the volume of housing sales is set to be less than 50 per cent of the level that would constitute the market conditions of recent times.

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