It has been revealed that the housing market in Essex is receiving a boost due to the demand from first time buyers. Balgores Property Group, one of the leading estate agents in Essex and Kent has released statistics which suggests that over the past 12 months, the estate agent has seen a marked increase in first time buyer property. There has been an increase of first time buyers in the Basildon area of 65% over the past year. There is a significant increase in areas other than Essex, although not quite to the same level. Chelmsford has seen an increase of 48%, Hornchurch has seen the demand for houses by first time buyers rise 41%, Brentwood by 24% and Romford and Upminster has seen the demand increase by 20%.
Throughout the country, there has been an increase in the number of first-time buyers as 339,000 joined the housing market. This means there has been an increase of 8% since 2015. This increase in first time buyers could be due to a variety of different changes. It is thought that the ability to get cheaper loans as well as the new mortgaging products on offer are encouraging more first time buyers to try and get on the property ladder. It is also thought that many first-time buyers have been saving up for the past few years for their deposit.
For the areas around London, buyers will be looking for the cheaper areas that are still connected to the city. Basildon seems to meet this criteria, as it is only a few train stops out of London itself, and yet is one of the more affordable places to live within 30 minutes of the City. Chelsford is also popular due to the amount of affordable properties on offer and the 35-minute train journey to into London Liverpool Street. As well as this, Chelmsford offers one of the best shopping centres in Essex, having a good variety of local amenities such as cafes restaurants and wine bars will appeal to first time buyers.
