One in ten people (13%) are planning on buying a new home in the next 12 months, and it’s twenty-something’s (22%), same sex couples (21%) and singletons (17%), not the traditional 2.4 child families, that are driving the housing market.
At a time when house prices are rising at their fastest rate for two years, the findings show as many as 28 per cent of homebuyers plan to purchase a new property within the next 12 months as an investment. More than one in ten (12%) homebuyers will be downsizing and buying something more modest.
As part of an ongoing study of the specialist mortgage market, Birmingham Midshires asked a GB representative sample of 2,000 people whether they were intending to buy a house in the next 12 months and the reason for the purchase.
Key Findings
* Almost one in three (28%) people buying a home in the next 12 months are doing as an investment. As many as 41 per cent of same sex couples and single people see their next purchase as a good way to make money on house price rises, compared with just 24 per cent of average 2.4 child families buying their next property as an investment.
* More than one in ten homebuyers (12%) will swap large for small, and will be moving in the next 12 months in order to downsize. Almost half of over 50’s buying property over the next 12 months will do so in order to downsize.
Regional Findings
* Home sales in Newcastle will be driven largely by those people looking to downsize. Almost a third of all property bought in Newcastle will be bought by the over-50’s looking for something smaller – compared with just 15% in Birmingham.
* Londoners are the most likely to be buying to capitalize on further increases in house prices. Almost a third of the capitals homebuyers plan to purchase a buy-to-let property as an investment – compared with 25% in Bristol.
Tim Hague, managing director of mortgages at Birmingham Midshires, said: “There is no such thing as an ‘average’ borrower in modern Britain, yet many financial services companies continue to target mortgage products that respond to an outdated picture of British life – a picture that may include two parents, two children, a golden Labrador and a mid-range family car.
"Our ‘Not so average Joe’ campaign looks in detail at how demographic and social changes in Britain today are creating an environment where being outside the mainstream – the average 2.4 child family – is in fact the driver for today's mortgage needs.”
