First-time buyers ‘positive’ about housing market, survey indicates

A new survey released today has indicated that a majority (67%) of first-time buyers feel that now is a good time to purchase their first home.

The survey by EBS Building Society said that about three in 10 first-time buyers are actively looking for their first home, with most of the balance (6 in 10) stating that they will be actively looking to buy before the year is out.

However job concerns remain prevalent, with 53% of respondents concerned about their job security and 22% concerned about their partner’s job.

Potential buyers are shopping around for their mortgage: those that have looked for finance (48% of respondents) stated that they had contacted, on average, more than three different lending institutions.

“Ensuring first-time buyers have confidence in the housing market and access to affordable, responsible finance are key issues that will contribute to our domestic economic recovery,” said Dara Deering of EBS.

“It is good to see in this research that such a large portion of first time buyers do believe that now is a good time to purchase, and this demonstrates their acknowledgement that the market will level-out, with such steep declines in first time buyer house prices most likely to be a thing of the past.”

The survey, carried out by independent research company, Behaviour and Attitudes, sampled 219 prospective first-time buyers in mid-February.