Post-recession peak for home buyer deposits
PROSPECTIVE homebuyers face having to pay the highest level of deposit since 2009.
The average deposit reached £72,302 last month, according to figures released today by the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB).
It marks the highest deposit since the MAB first started publishing the data six years ago.
The size of the average loan also ticked up to £167,842, up four per cent compared with May last year.
“Recent house price growth means many home movers are likely to have made significant equity gains in recent years, which help to fund larger deposits for their next house purchase. However, the rise of average deposits is more concerning for first time buyers, who are faced with needing to raise increasingly large sums to get their foot on the property ladder,” the MAB said.
The MAB’s head of lending, Brian Murphy, said: “The rise of deposits is less encouraging for first time buyers, but there is at least some hope that more low cost properties will become available as second and third-steppers make their move up the ladder.”
He added: “The range of affordable schemes to support first time buyers will soon be boosted by the arrival of the Help to Buy ISA. All the same, the savings scheme will not be enough on its own to solve the long term issues that are driving up prices and deposits across the market.”