In April 2016 32,300 transactions were recorded, a 14.9% increase the month before and a 50.7% increase from February 2016.
First-time buyer activity reached a 2-year high in April after soaring by more than 50% from three months before, data from estate agents Your Move & Reeds Rains has found.
In April 2016 32,300 transactions were recorded, a 14.9% increase from the month before and a 50.7% increase from February 2016.
Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains, said: “In the short-term, first-timers may be finding that competition for properties has eased slightly following a period of intense pressure on landlords to meet the stamp duty surcharge deadline at the beginning of April.
“With a chronic shortage of homes, one man’s loss is another man’s gain. Subdued landlord demand following the changes is offering some temporary light relief to first-time buyers. Less competition from landlords expanding their portfolios means more houses to buy for first-timers.”
But with landlords now having to pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge Gill felt first-time buyers will suffer in the long-term.
He added: “Scratch beneath the surface of these positive monthly figures and a darker long-term picture emerges.
“The government’s restrictions on the buy-to-let sector may seem to play into the hands of today’s first-time buyers, but future first-timers could pay the price.
“Demand for first-time properties to buy remains red hot, but demand for cheap properties to rent is also searing – fuelled by a swelling population and increasing desire among many to move around the country following career opportunities.
“Cutting landlords out of the equation will simply drive this demand harder still, pushing up rents, and making saving for a deposit for a first-home more difficult. First-time buyers are tenants too.”
In the last 12 months the average price paid by a first-time buyer to purchase their first home rose more than £20,000.
April saw first-time buyers spend an average of £168,656 on their purchase, 13.6% higher than the £148,483 they spent in April 2015, a difference of £20,175.
