Around 26% of home sales in August were by first time buyers, according to figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the highest proportion since July 2010 and up from 22% in July.
NAEA members also reported an increase of 29% in the average number of house hunters per branch, up from 250 in July to 322 in August, as well as a slight increase in the average sales agreed per branch in August (nine) compared with July (eight). However, supply levels dropped slightly over the month – the number of available properties per branch decreased from 53 in July to 52 in August.
Around 40% of home buyers last month were aged between 41 and 55 years old, followed by 31 to 40 year olds at 36 per cent. Nearly eight out of ten properties were sold to couples.
Five thousand Lanarkshire homes set to receive green energy
Muirhall Energy has secured a £9million finance package from Santander to expand the Muirhall Windfarm in South Lanarkshire. It is adding two new turbines to the site, the tallest in the UK, to increase production to 60,800 MWh per year, enough to power over 14,300 homes each year. This will prevent 26,144 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Chris Walker, Managing Director of Muirhall Energy, said: “As demand for power increases and fossil fuel reserves deplete it is important we continue make the most of alternative sources of energy and wind power continues to be one of the most cost effective and green solutions.”
Lack of rental homes for families on the market
Figures from Countrywide show that two and three bedroom rental properties saw an increase in average monthly rents in August, up 0.6% and 0.9% respectively. One and four-plus bedroom properties saw a drop of 0.1% and 1.6% respectively. Nick Dunning, Group Commercial Director at Countrywide, said: “August is traditionally a busy period for the rental market with tenants, particularly families, wanting to move into their new rented accommodation before the start of the school term in September. However, demand is not being met by supply and currently there is a particular lack of family-sized properties available to rent, especially in the South of England. Improved conditions in the sales market are attracting reluctant landlords to sell these types of properties specifically in the catchment areas for good schools.”
Property prices in Surrey
According to Zoopla the property prices in Surrey are up 7.35% from five years ago and 4.12% from a year ago. James Wyatt, Partner of Barton Wyatt and Chairman of NAEA Surrey, said: “These figures point to the change in attitude of the money lenders in the last there months. Yet again financial institutions are driving the market and the recent decisions which enables UK buyers to borrow money more easily again has positively turned the market. This has aided sales in the small to medium sized end of the market as most of these properties are purchased with mortgages and in turn we have seen a 33% increase in domestic buyers over the past year in north Surrey.”
Article Source: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/09/10/a-quarter-of-all-homes-sold-to-first-time-buyers/
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