According to the latest Lloyds Bank review, the number of people moving home is at its highest level since 2007. The number of home-movers (current owners moving house) across the UK increased by 2%.
The slight increase in home-movers could be a result of continued low mortgage rates and high demand for homes, which have made it easier for home-movers to take the next step on the housing ladder. The increase in 2017 follows a decline in the number of home-movers reported in 2016, which fell for the first in five years. Since hitting a market low in 2009, the number of home-movers has grown by 18%.
High house prices in London have adversely impacted the home-mover market in the capital, with numbers of home-movers falling by 6% in 2017 and the only area to show a decline in numbers. The South East region has the highest number of home-movers at more than double the next highest region. Over the past five years, the average price paid by home-movers has grown by 44% (£90,879) from £205,852 in 2012, to £296,731 in 2017.
In London, the average price a home-mover pays has grown by 59% since 2012 to £568,816, the highest in the UK.
The average deposit put down by a home-mover has also increased by 45% in the past five years, from £69,089 in 2012 to £100,387 in 2017. Londoners require the largest deposit of £196,535 towards the purchase of their next home, which is four times the average home-mover deposit of £46,032 in Northern Ireland. However, whilst Londoners pay the highest deposit in monetary terms, home-movers in East Anglia pay the largest deposit as a proportion of average house price – 37% (£110,321), followed by both South East and South West (36%).
Are you planning to move house, give Bluebell a call and we can guide you through all your options.
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