First-time buyers still face significant financial pressure

First-time buyers continue to struggle to get on the housing ladder amid the mortgage mayhem, industry leaders have warned.

Propertymark said the mortgage market had ‘calmed” in recent weeks but first-time buyers were still under “significant pressure” financially.

Mary-Lou Press, President of NAEA Propertymark, said: “While the mortgage market has calmed slightly after recent volatility, first-time buyers are still facing significant pressure.

“Rates have eased marginally, but affordability remains stretched, particularly for those with smaller deposits,” she said.

Reassessing budgets

She added: “On the ground, buyer demand remains resilient, but affordability challenges are clearly influencing purchasing decisions.

“Many buyers are becoming more cautious, reassessing budgets, extending timelines, or looking at smaller properties and different locations to make homeownership achievable.”

It follows a report by Moneyfacts suggesting that the availability of mortgage deals had dropped by around 10% since the start of March due to conflict in the Middle East.

Mortgage deals

While the overall product choice rose by 583 options, it represents less than half of the deals available in the previous month at 1,283.

It claimed that lenders had pulled withdrawn products for sale due to uncertainty about the future path of interest rates.

It added that deals for those with a deposit of 10% or less had also dropped during the same time frame by 14, marking a ‘blow to first-time buyers in particular’.

Borrowers may feel partially relieved by the period of calm after absolute mortgage mayhem, but first-time buyers bear the brunt.”

Rachel Springall, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts, said: “Borrowers may feel partially relieved by the period of calm after absolute mortgage mayhem, but first-time buyers bear the brunt.

“First-time buyers or those with little equity of just 5% hoping to grab a two- or five-year fixed deal will find average fixed rates remain above 6%. It is essential that new buyers in particular feel supported, to keep the market moving, but affordability strains are evident.