FirstRungNow.com: First-time buyers necessary for movement

Date:Wednesday 15th December 2010
Author: Susanna Kavka

The importance of mortgage applicants taking their first step on to the property ladder has been hailed by a representative from FirstRungNow.com.

According to the website's managing director Helen Adams, first-time buyers encourage movement in the housing market.

She described how it is currently very difficult for such consumers to secure a mortgage and said this is having repercussions further up the property chain.

In her opinion, it is important that homeowners drop the asking price on their houses, since this will give first-time buyers a boost.

"When house prices are lower then people stand a better chance of getting a mortgage to enable them to buy," added Ms Adams.

The Halifax House Price Index for the three months to November showed that such figures are gradually decreasing, with prices 2.1 per cent lower than in the three months to August.

Property values dropped by one per cent during the course of November.