Real Estate Investor June 2021 June 2021 | Page 29

first-time home buyers has remained above the 50 % mark since January 2020 , although it has since declined from a peak of 53.9 % in October 2020 to 50.5 % in April 2021 . In May 2020 , just as the severe lockdown was easing and buyers were able to take advantage of the historically low interest rates for the first time , a total of 56.2 % of all mortgages extended were to firsttime buyers , the highest percentage recorded by ooba on a data collection research which began in October 2007 ).
“ Realistically however , the modest decline in the percentage of first-time buyers in the marketplace is likely to continue as the economic realities of Covid and impact of the lockdown take their toll on economic activity and mortgage lenders may perhaps become somewhat more cautious ” Gordon says . lower turning point in May 2020 ( 4.1 % first-time home buyer deposit and 6.7 % average deposit ) before rebounding in subsequent months . This recovery in deposits as a percentage of the total ( rising ) purchase price hints at a tempering of risk appetite among financial institutions .”
SOURCES Pam Golding Properties , Ooba
As Gordon concludes , she says in conjunction with this , deposits as a percentage of purchase price have been declining since 2017 , reaching a
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine JUNE 2021 27