First-time buyers ‘driving housing market recovery’ – Zoopla

First-time buyers are helping to drive the housing market recovery as it struggles to bounce back, new figures from Zoopla show.

Rocketing rental costs are forcing many tenants to look seriously at buying a property, the portal says.

The worst of the recent house price falls are over, as demand continues to recover and supply is up 66%.

Zoopla reveals the income needed to buy a three-bed home for a first-time buyer has increased by an average of £7,350 since 2020 to a total of £55,900.

Steep rent

“First-time buyers continue to fuel the housing market, despite needing an extra £7,350 income to buy a home,” Zoopla says.

“They were largest buyer group in 2022, and are expected to remain a strong source of sales in 2023, as steep rental market pushes FTBs into the market.”

Three-bed homes remain the most in demand property for first-time buyers, but higher mortgage rates mean a clear shift toward two-bed homes.

Bounced back

Latest figures from HMRC, released this week, showed the housing market has bounced back after a sluggish start to the year.

House sales in March were down on last year, but still better than in the previous month, as the market recovers from the impact of higher mortgage rates.

“We expect first-time buyers to have another strong year in 2023″

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, says: “Housing market conditions continue to improve as buyers return to the market and more sales are agreed.

“We expect first-time buyers to have another strong year in 2023 having been the largest buyer group last year.”

Mark Manning, MD at Manning Stainton & Northern Estate Agencies Group, says: “The overall numbers of buyers searching may have fallen since a year ago, but deeper analysis shows that when comparing with a more ‘normal market’ such as that of 2018 or 2019 there is little change, particularly in first-time buyers who remain out in numbers”.