7
Dec
First time buyers warned to remain cautious
First time buyers should remain cautiously optimistic despite
evidence that house prices are falling, it has been claimed.
According to Paul Holmes, chief executive officer of firstrung,
further evidence of sustained drops in prices is required before
first time buyers can "get excited".
The fillip provided by falling prices is also counterbalanced by
mortgage providers' withdrawal of the number of products from the
market, which have made it harder for buyers to find a deal, Mr
Holmes added.
He explained: "Although the house price fall will be good news for
first-time buyers, their mortgage choice is going to be limited
quite severely.
"While house prices falling is good news for first time buyers, we
really are all going to have to get used to there being less
available products out there. There will still be around 1,500
mortgages out there but at one point there were 3,500 to 4,000
mortgages available."
Mr Holmes' comments come as data from Halifax's house price index
showed that prices fell by 1.1 per cent in November.
