Twenty-eight of Scotland’s 32 Local Authority areas saw an increase in average prices with eight of them having returned their highest ever average price. However, East Ayrshire, Eilean Siar, Moray and Perth and Kinross Local Authorities experienced a decrease in average property prices.

Kenny Crawford, RoS’ Head of Commercial Services, said:

“The number of properties sold over the last quarter is up on the same quarter last year by 4.9%, a difference of nearly 1,000 sales but this is still barely half of the number of properties that were changing hands in the busiest days for the property market in 2007. Interestingly, it is the detached and semi-detached properties that have recorded the highest increase in value while the volume of sales has been strongest for semi-detached and flats”.

Whilst the City of Edinburgh reached its highest ever average property price at £228,697, up by 9.9% on the same period last year, the average price in the City of Glasgow increased by just 2.9% to £143,255.

The average price increase does not appear to be as a result of a significant increase at the higher end of the price ranges covered by the RoS report. When the number of sales are split into price bands, the pattern since 2007 remains largely unchanged, although overall sales volumes are significantly reduced.

Taken from the register of Scotland website.

Getting a first time buyer mortgage is the first step onto the UK property ladder. You need to find out how much you can borrow. Remember your first time mortgage is a big loan which you will probably pay back over a long period – and for that privilege you have responsibilties regarding repayments and of course, there will be costs.

You always have the option to contact a mortgage lender direct, but a good mortgage broker will know about all the first time buyers mortgage and will be able to offer you first time buyer mortgage advice. We work with a network of independent mortgage advisors and they can help you on your journey. Your first step should be to seek no-commitment independent first time buyer mortgage advice. A broker or advisor will know all the top first time buyer mortgage deals in the UK.

Here are some examples of a first time buyers mortgage choices.

Guarantor first time buyer mortgage : when your parents will pay your mortgage payments if you can’t!

Cash-back first time buyer mortgage: where you purchase the property, you receive a lump sum from the lender to pay some costs like stamp duty, and other moving in costs.

First time buyer mortgage based on parents’ borrowing ability : when you can borrow more because your parents can help you with the payments.

Joint first time buyer mortgage : when you team up with a family member or friend to borrow more, share the costs but have joint mortgage payment liabilities.

Family offset first time buyer mortgage: when your family’s savings interest is offset against your own mortgage interest.

Graduate and professional first time buyer mortgage : higher amounts are lent to those who are thought to have careers, meaning they will increase their earnings in the near future.

High Loan-to-Value first time buyer mortgage : in the past, some lenders lent up to 130% of the value of the property, meaning you started with negative equity but all your costs were covered.

Shared ownership first time buyer mortgage : you own part of a property, pay rent to the co-owner (usually a housing association) and get a mortgage out for the part you are buying.

Rent to Buy first time buyer mortgage : when how much you’ve been paying for rent is taken as the amount you can afford to pay back with a mortgage. It demonstrates affordability.

Extended terms on a first time buyer mortgage : when you start out with a repayment/mortgage term of up to 40 years. It makes the monthly payments more affordable but you would pay a lot more interest overall if you didn’t shorten the term when you can afford the larger monthly payments.

Shared equity first time buyer mortgage : where in exchange for a mortgage and a top up loan with which to buy a first home, you would have to forfeit some of the increase in value of your property to the top up loan lender when you sell it.

And there are loads more first time buyer mortgages….

* Mortgage Advice to find the right first time buyer mortgage for you.
* Best first mortgages comparison table
* See what property is for sale in your area
* Look for new-build property deals
* Find a local conveyancing solicitor to help you on your way

Features, advantages and disavantages of specific first time buyer mortgages:

100% Mortgages l Cashback Mortgages l High LTV Mortgages l Graduate Mortgages l Professional Mortgages l Mortgages with Parents l Guarantor Mortgages l Family Offset Mortgages l Mortgages with Friends or Family l Mortgages at University l Rent a Room Mortgages l Affordable Mortgages l Interest only Mortgages l Part Repayment Part Interest Mortgages l Interest-free Start Mortgages l Shared Ownership Mortgages l Poor, Adverse or Poor Credit Mortgages l Key Worker Mortgages l Shared Equity Mortgages l 30, 35, 40 year term mortgages

We can help you get on the ladder, so please if you need help leave your details in the box at the side and we will come back to you to help you out.

This is a tax that is payable on the purchase of land in the UK. This is in addition to the offer to help home buyers pay the taxes charged by the councils in different areas on the transaction of the sale of a home.

Not to be outdone by Halifax, other lenders entered the competition with deals of their own in order to attract first time home buyers as customers. Abbey cut the loan rate for those who could even make a small amount of deposit on the mortgage. This lender, which has Spanish ownership, cut the mortgage rate to 6.89% from 7.09% for those who could place a deposit of 10% of the purchase price. In addition, they cut almost £2499 to £995.

Even this slight decrease in the interest rate will mean a savings of £46 per month on the mortgage payment on a home costing £150,000, which is the current price of the average home in the UK at the present time.

Co-op Bank, which is planning to merge with the Britannia Building Society, recently announced that first time home buyers applying for a mortgage can have a co-signer on the document by using the income of a family member or friend who is willing to guarantee the repayment of the loan.

It was actually HSBC who initiated this competition in the mortgage lending business. It shocked the lending world by slashing its interest rates for first time home buyers to the low rate of 4.99% if they could make a 10% deposit on the loan. Experts in the industry were not impressed by this move.

This was not what buyers need at the present time, according to David Hollingworth of London & Country brokers, who stated “What first-time buyers need is better choice and better rates on loans for those with just small deposits. Incentives are fine, but you have to work out what they are really worth.”

The amount of deposit that first time home buyers can afford is what will determine the rate of interest that lenders charge for mortgages. Those who do not have the 10% deposit are still subject to the higher rates of interest on the loan. Lenders are still apply a rigid set of criteria in approving mortgages because in these uncertain economic times having a stellar credit rating remains an all-important issue in being able to receive a mortgage.

The number of mortgage approvals in January, 2009 was only a little less than 9000, according to the figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. When you compare this to the number of approvals when the housing boom was at its peak it is only about 25% of the total number of approvals for the same month. At that time, first time borrowers needed to make a deposit of just over £12,000 whereas today, they need to have an average of £30,000

BoE figures show slight upturn in lending but remaining very weak.

• House purchase approvals rose to 48.9k on a seasonally adjusted basis in March,
from 46.9k in February. However, approvals remain well below the levels seen as
recently as November, when 60k approvals were recorded. This weakness over the
last three months is reflective of continued restrictions in the availability of credit
and rising prices, which appear to be choking demand.
• Remortgage approvals picked up slightly to 27.8k from 27.3k, but remain well
below the long run average of 71k cases per month. We expect remortgage activity
to remain subdued as revert rates appear attractive vis-à-vis new business rates.
• Gross advances totalled £11.6bn in March, from £9.5bn in February. Advances
totalled £139bn over the financial year, down from £208bn in 08/09.
• Market net lending totalled £0.5bn in March, up from £0.0bn in February. Market
net advances totalled £10bn over the financial year, down from £20bn in 08/09.

(Nationwide analysis of BoE release)

Higher loan-to-value mortgages make slight return

The number of mortgage deals available is on the rise, and there is good news for buyers with only a small deposit.

More mortgages with higher loan-to-values are available for first-time buyers

Mortgage deals for homebuyers with smaller deposits are trickling back, with the Co-operative Bank and Britannia returning to 90% lending.

Financial data firm Moneyfacts this week said the number of mortgages on offer has reached 2,076 – the highest since December 2008. It added that “a significant proportion are for those with smaller deposits”. It comes as Nationwide this week revealed that house prices continue to surge, rising 1% in April, pushing the annual rate to 10.5%.

Moneyfacts says there are 19 mortgage deals available to those looking to borrow 95% of the value of their property, compared with three a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of deals available to those wanting to borrow 90% has doubled over the same period – from 71 to 147.

However, David Hollingworth at mortgage broker London & Country, is surprised at the suggestion that there are 19 deals available to buyers who can only stump up a 5% deposit. He thought there were not nearly as many. “I’m confident that gives a brighter picture than the reality. And even if there were 19, you’d have to say that is extremely low,” he adds.

Yorkshire Bank is one of the few offering a 95% mortgage: a three-year fix for first-time buyers. However, the rate – 6.99% – will put many off. Hollingworth says the 19 deals may include mortgages that are only available to a lender’s existing customers. For example, Nationwide offers home loans to customers whose current deals with the society are ending, where they may be able to borrow up to 95% of the property’s value.

But at least the availability of deals is improving, and rates are coming down even if, as Moneyfacts says, a 25% deposit remains the benchmark for the majority of the most competitive mortgages.

There was some more good news this week when the Co-operative Bank and Britannia announced they were reintroducing 90% loan-to-value (LTV) options on a range of mortgage products. These include a two-year fix at 5.49% with a £999 fee, which Hollingworth describes as a very good rate. There is also a five-year fix at 6.09% with an identical fee.

These loans have to be taken out on a capital and repayment basis. The maximum property value is £350,000, and the minimum is £75,000, with a £20,000 minimum household income.

Article taken from the gaurdian.

The latest Financial Research Survey from the market research firm GfK suggests 347,000 people took out a mortgage for the first time in the 12 months to February.

This is slightly up on the 331,374 seen the year before, which marked the first reading below 350,000 since the survey began in 1993. But despite last year’s stamp duty holiday on properties costing up to £175,000, it remained well below the high of more than 700,000 in 2004/05 and the annual average of 561,000.

It is also 100,000 fewer than the lows seen in the recession of the early 1990s, GfK said.

The group added that onerous deposit requirements would mean that the government’s recent move to offer stamp duty relief to all first-time buyers on properties up to £250,000 would not provide much support.

Banks are demanding far higher deposits since the credit crunch struck, meaning that first-time buyers must often save tens of thousands of pounds before they can get a foot on the ladder.

This, coupled with rising house prices, has seen the average age of a first-time buyer rise to 32 compared to 31 in 1991, GfK said.

“Lack of deposit capital is at the root of this problem, as fewer than one in six hold sufficient funds to make the necessary down-payment.

“This shortfall means it is unlikely that the increased stamp duty allowance will have any effect on young people’s prospects for home ownership.”

But as first-time buyer numbers decline, GfK has found that an increasing proportion of first-time mortgages are being granted to the over-50s as baby boomers buy up properties for their children who are “locked out” of the housing market.

Many over-50s are also buying properties for themselves as retirement investments, putting further pressure on the housing market and affordability for first-time buyers.

Ben Steer, financial director at GfK, said: “Increased prudence on the part of lenders has priced many out of the housing market – the challenge for these financial providers is to create products which will assist young people, without creating the conditions that sparked the crisis in the first place.”

GfK’s Financial Research Survey polls 60,000 Britons each year.

Article taken from the gaurdian.