First-time buyers cautious

A quarter of first-time homebuyers have put their purchase plans on hold until after the election, a new survey suggests.

11:51 16 April 2005

A quarter of first-time homebuyers have put their purchase plans on hold until after the election, a new survey suggests.

The poll conducted on behalf of Yorkshire Bank found that 41 per cent of first-time buyers thought 2005 would be a good time to buy in January, due in part to the cooling UK housing market.

However, the figure has now dropped to 31 per cent and one in four first-time buyers said they would probably delay looking for a property because there was greater uncertainty in the housing market ahead of the general election on May 5th.

"Concern around the election reflects a greater degree of nervousness generally among first-time buyers," said Yorkshire Bank retail head Gary Lumby. "They seemed quite optimistic at the beginning of this year, but confidence levels have slipped since then."

The survey also found that one in five (18 per cent) first-time buyers would risk offering significantly under the asking price for a property they really wanted, down from 36 per cent in January.

More than one in three (35 per cent) first-time buyers say they are aware of reports of falling house prices but say house prices in their area still appear to be rising.

Meanwhile, the bank found that one in four existing homeowners (24 per cent) think the market is sufficiently strong to enable them to hold out for the full asking price on their property. The number of existing owners expecting to see higher prices rose from 46 per cent in January to 54 per cent, while those forecasting falls dropped by a third, from 12 per cent to eight per cent.

The research was conducted by BMRB International Ltd on a sample of more than 2,000 people nationwide during March 2005.