More First-time Buyers Seek Mortgage Advice

According to the latest data presented by Unbiased – a UK online comparison service for financial, mortgage, and legal advice – the number of mortgage enquiries from first-time buyers reached its peak this September, thus marking recovered confidence and interest in the British property and mortgage markets. The latest report made on the basis of visitors’ searches shows that the number of people looking for “advice on first-time buyer mortgages” reached 51% in September 2009; first-time buyer mortgage enquires, thus, became the most popular advice criteria last month. This was followed by “remortgage advice” as 34% of Unbiased visitors searched for this criteria in September; the figure is up from 29% in August. The third most searched for advice criteria is “buy to let mortgages”; its share stands at 17% of all enquiries made last month. According to chief executive of the service, Ms. Karen Barrett, the fact that more than 50% of visitors searched for mortgage advice for first-time buyers suggests an increased level of confidence among this group of borrowers. She believes that UK first-time buyers have regained interest into property of their own and adds that, in her opinion, many first-time buyers have been waiting for a pleasant market environment before investigating available mortgage offers and taking steps to get proper mortgage advice. Ms. Barrett, however, warned that the regulation of the mortgage market proposed by the FSA might result in a decrease in the number of first-time buyer mortgage enquiries as lenders are expected to significantly toughen their lending criteria. The same, in her opinion, is true for the buy to let market as the FSA initiative aims to regulate this mortgage sector as well. Unbiased chief executive highlighted that the firm supports the idea of mortgage market regulation in general; however, this protection should not negatively influence the availability of mortgages, especially for such vulnerable groups of borrowers as first-time buyers.