50 years ago, in 1967,
the average value of a Crawley property was £4,372
and interest rates were at 5.5% so how does that compare to the Crawley property
market of today??
I have been doing some
research on the current attitude of Crawley first-time buyers who are so
important for both landlords and homeowners. If first-time buyers aren’t buying, they rent
(good news for landlords). If they buy, demand for Crawley property goes up for
starter homes and that enables other Crawley homeowners to move up the property
ladder.
First-time
buyers are the life blood of the property market. They are, however the most
susceptible to interest rate rises and the affordability of mortgages. With that in mind, let us see what is
happening to them…
The average value of a Crawley
property is currently standing at £329,649 and UK interest rates at 0.25%. As each year goes by, it appears the age of
the everlasting mortgage has started to emerge, prompted by these first-time
buyers, eager to get a foot on the housing ladder. I was reading a report a few
days ago where some mortgage companies confessed that the battle to gain big
returns from the property market has led to mortgages that will take considerably
longer than the customary 25 years to pay off.
Over the last ten years,
Crawley property prices have continued to rise more than wages, therefore,
first-time buyers are looking for bigger loans, therefore the only way
repayments can remain reasonable is by increasing the term of the loan.
Over the last few years, it
has been commonplace for first-time buyer mortgages to be 30 and 35 years in
length as the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ have been helping with the deposit. Now,
some high street banks are offering mortgage terms of 40 years. This means
first-time buyers could be paying until their mid 60’s. So, a 50-year mortgage does not seem as
far-fetched now as it would have been back in the 1970’s. After all life expectancy
for a male then was exactly 69 years and today its 79 years and 5 months!
However, some commenters
have said there are worries the mortgage companies are lending money over such
a long term, they threaten leaving some first-time buyers with a generation of
debt if the house price bubble bursts. Interestingly, when I looked at what had
happened to average property values in Crawley over the last 50 years, there
have been bubbles. First-time buyers should take heart, since as a county
we have always recovered from it a few years later.
What if interest rates rise?
Well looking at historic UK interest rates, the current rate of 0.25% is at a 300-year
low. Mortgages will never be cheaper. I would however, seriously consider
fixing the rate to cushion any future potential interest rate rises (since they
can only go in one direction when they do change). If Crawley first-time buyers
see buying a home as a long-term decision, based on the last 50 years, they
should be just fine!
