'Small deposit' buyers now over a fifth of mortgage market

Buyers with deposits of 15 per cent or less of the purchase price now make up more than a fifth of the mortgage market - substantially higher than in the recent past.

Borrowers with a deposit of 15 per cent or less made up 20.5 per cent of the market during the month of February according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv.

In the previous month these borrowers took 18.7 per cent of the mortgage market and in February 2016 they represented only 15.7% per cent of all house purchase loans granted.

This growth came despite the overall number of house purchase approvals dropping slightly between January and February. There were 66,911 loans (seasonally adjusted) approved versus 67,430 in January.

This figure is down 7.4 per cent compared to the same point in 2016.

“Despite this positive performance, the market for first-time buyers and those with small deposits still needs support. These buyers are the key to housing chains, allowing others to sell on and move up the ladder” says e.surv director Richard Sexton.

Meanwhile the proportion of loans made to home buyers with large deposits dipped below 35 per cent in February according to the same monitor. Those larger deposit borrowers – defined as those with a deposit of 60 per cent or more – made up 34.7 per cent of the market in February.