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First-time buyer numbers up

Monday, 21 January 2008 12:00 AM

First-time buyers continued to improve their position during December, and now account for 13 per cent of the property market.

The figure is an increase on the 10.1 per cent recorded in November by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) - and is the highest proportion since November 2006.

The NAEA attributes the increase to the roll-out of home information packs (Hips).

The controversial government scheme was extended to cover one and two-bedroom properties on December 14th, causing a glut of such properties to enter the market before Hips became compulsory.

These properties are ideal for first-time buyers and many made the choice to buy.

December's interest rate cut and falling prices in some areas also provided further impetus to buy, according to the NAEA.

Hips may also have played a role in the long-term rise in number of properties offered for sale by estate agents.

While each agent had 76 properties on their books in December, one lower than the 77 recorded in November, it is well above the 51 properties per agent recorded in December 2006.

"The higher stock levels for Christmas 2007 may be attributed to the influx of one and two-bedroom homes being rushed onto the market before the December 14th final phase implementation of Hips," explained the NAEA in a statement.

However, the number of buyers declined during December.

Up to 290 buyers were registered per agent in November, but this fell to just 248 in December.

As a result the number of completed sales fell from the nine per agent recorded in November to just five in December.

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