While 85% of those who bought in the last year said setting up home with their partner was their primary goal, at a time of national financial instability, people are also looking at their homes as an opportunity to improve their finances.
The research of over 2,000 potential and existing first-time buyers found that despite market conditions, three out of four people who had yet to purchase their first property aspired to own their own home.
Almost half (45%) of those who bought their first home in the past year said they felt property was a good investment, and 49% were prompted to buy as they felt renting was a waste of money.
The same percentage (49%) of potential first-time homeowners agreed with this statement but 5% more said they saw property as a good investment (50%).
First-time buyers who bought prior to the fallout from the credit crunch are less likely to agree as arguably they had easier access to credit and fewer financial worries .
The largest proportion of recent first-time buyers chose the security of a fixed rate product (51%), with others seeking to take advantage of low interest rates by taking out a tracker (12%).
Chris Smith, group direct mortgage manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “As a mutual organisation, mortgage lending is part of our core business. As such Yorkshire Building Society commissioned this report because we’re committed to understanding the needs of first-time buyers to ensure we continue to provide innovative products that help more people to realise their home-owning ambitions.
“In the past five years mortgage activity in general has more than halved, and today’s first-time buyers are facing a squeeze on incomes and pay rates that are not keeping pace with inflation. However, it’s encouraging to see the proportion of first time buyers has actually begun to increase in this period and more people are seeing home purchase as a prudent financial decision.
“First-time buyers are vital to the housing market, and here at the Yorkshire we are doing our best to help. In the first six months of 2012, we increased our overall net mortgage lending compared to the same period last year, with approvals to first-time buyers up 32%.”
