The number of properties on the market eligible for the government's Help to Buy scheme has fallen 7.4 per cent in the last year, according to Zoopla.
The portal's analysis of properties for sale in England and Wales up to a value of £600,000 also shows that the average price of properties for sale that qualify for Help to Buy has risen 5.5 per cent since March 2014.
The biggest fall in properties eligible for Help to Buy in the past year has been in East Anglia with a 12.3 per cent reduction in suitable stock on the market, while average prices have climbed 6.1 per cent over the same period.
In London, the typical value of a property qualifying for Help to Buy has risen by 11.7 per cent since March 2014.
Of all London boroughs, Southwark, Lambeth, Waltham Forest and Newham have seen the greatest annual rise in supply of homes up to £600,000, increasing by over 15 per cent.
Help to Buy was intended as a leg up for flailing first-time buyers but in some areas that has since been pulled from under their feet. Greater demand hasn't been met by greater supply, and instead the soaring price growth of the past year appears to have airlifted many properties out of the starter home zone. The pool of homes on the market within reach of Help to Buy assistance needs to expand, or this pinch on supply will continue to inflate prices at the bottom rungs of the ladder claims Zoopla spokesman Lawrence Hall.
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Comments
Always a prediction that was going to come true, it is simple supply and demand after all. With prices taking a hike and with the new proposition from our friend David Cameron, I am sure the demand of the scheme will consistently keep declining until house prices are actually affordable!