More properties on market than buyers for second month in a row
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MILES SHIPSIDE, DEPOSITS ARE THE PROBLEM
The number of properties for sale has outweighed the number of new buyers in the market for the second month running, according to research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The data shows that 7% more surveyors saw a rise rather than a fall in new buyer enquiries in February compared with a negative reading of 20% in January.
Over the same period a higher net balance of 15% of surveyors saw a rise in new instructions from sellers - up from a negative balance of 5%.
But the number of surveyors seeing a rise in house prices has fallen, going from 31% in January to 17% last month.
A spokesman for RICS says: “The magnitude of price gains is likely to ease, reflecting the fact that supply is starting to outstrip demand.”
Meanwhile, research from Rightmove demonstrates that the decline in demand among first-time buyers is particularly severe.
It says that of those consumers looking to buy in the next year, just 25.8% are first-timers.
This is down from 27.6% in Q4 2009 and 30.8% in Q3, and marks the third consecutive quarter in which the projected number of first-time buyers has fallen.
The property website says that in a healthy market first-timers nor-mally account for 40% of all buyers.
Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove says: “Deposits are the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers to get over.
“In the aftermath of the global banking crisis lenders have hiked the deposits they require, and by doing this they have restricted the number of first-time buyers entering the market.”
Separate research from Coun-trywide shows that its clients have an average deposit of 22% for their mortgages, up 3% on the average deposit in January.
