Which indicates that 2011 will be a good year for being able to buy a first home.
The survey reveals that 40% of the respondents can already pull together a 10% deposit though at the moment this is not necessarily enough to secure a mortgage. With property prices forecast to hold or even drop slightly next year and interest rates set to remain low, this heralds possible good news for first timers.
Site Director Helen Adams comments:
“We know that lenders are building up their capital reserves, which limits their lending right now but we believe that in 2011 they will want to revert to near normal business. Almost three quarters of our respondents have already saved a 5% deposit right now.
"We need lenders to see sense and incentivise or subsidise those financially challenged borrowers wanting to step onto the first rung of the property ladder by offering first time buyer mortgages and this should be funded by those further up the property chain who have invariably amassed significant property equity in the last fifteen years or so.
"This would breathe well-needed life into the currently oxygen-starved property industry”
Of those sampled, two thirds believe that 2011 will be a better time to buy a first home compared with just a third who thought 2010 was the right time.
A significant 69% are optimistic that they will qualify for a loan. Adams comments:
"Aspiring first time buyers need a bit of a reality check – they need a significant deposit, to understand that lenders are very careful about who they lend to and that additional costs of such as mortgage payment protection will probably be required.”
