21 October 2005
Increasing numbers of first-time buyers are taking out loans to fund a foray into the housing market, new figures suggest.
Mortgage uptake by virgin house hunters is on the rise, and buyers new to the market concurrently increased by 3.3 per cent in September after experiencing a two-year low the previous month.
According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), 11 per cent of September sales were to first-time buyers seemingly tempted back to the market by the likelihood that interest rates will not rise imminently and the fact that they were indeed cut by the Bank of England in August.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has simultaneously revealed that gross mortgage lending increased by 4.3 per cent to £28.1 billion, painting a rosier picture than recently seen of a market which appears to be rising slowly from the doldrums.
Christopher Hall of the NAEA said: "Compared with the same time last year, the prospects are looking healthy. We expect the market to be lively come January."
The Bank of England recently showed that 107,000 mortgages had been approved in August – the highest overall number for more than a year.
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