Buying a property is the dream for many people. However, over recent years it seems that buying your own home hasn’t come easy. This has led to a real dip in the amount of people who are moving home or buying their first home, something that has meant that the demand for rental properties has increased.
That said, things are looking to change. In fact, during February this year, around 50,000 mortgages were approved to both first time buyers and home movers, who were looking to buy a property. This is the highest that this figure has been during February since 2007.
It seems that it was quite an even split between those who were buying a property for the first time and those who were moving home. With 25,200 first time buyers and 24,800 home mover mortgages, it seems that there is plenty of movement in the current property market.
Aside from buying a property, it seems that re-mortgages were also on the up with more than a 11.3% increase then was seen in the February a year before.
Whilst the number of people moving home or buying their first home has increased, the number of people who were choosing to buy a property in order to rent it out actually reduced by 8.8% compared to February the year earlier. This could be down to the fact that buying property to then rent out has become harder for prospective investors to do.
So, what is behind this?
February has always seemed to be a popular time for people to buy a property, often this is because people are shaking off the winter blues and see the beginning of a new year as a chance to start things afresh, by buying a new property. However, the amount of mortgages that are being seen are the highest in over a decade.
Could this be because people are realising that financially things are on the rise? More people are starting to feel secure in their own financial situation and the rates of unemployment are also decreasing too.
As well as buying property, more and more people are deciding to re-mortgage against their property too. Often this is to raise money to carry out home improvements so that they can make sure that their property looks great as well as increase the value of it if they want to then sell it on.
What does the future hold?
We hope that this February boom means that buying properties is on the rise. Whether that is buying a home for your own, or buying a property that you then rent out to someone else. With the economical climate settling down, things should grow and grow, both in the property buying market as well as the rental market too.
