First Home Buyers Still Passionate About Getting Into Their First Home

First Home Buyers still passionate about getting into their first home

New research announced today by specialist lender, RAMS Home Loans suggests that the vast majority of people looking to buy their first home would still be in the market regardless of the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) Boost even if interest rates were higher than at present.

According to RAMS First Home Buyers' Pulse Check, less that 40% of people looking to buy their first home in the next 12 months are trying to secure a property before the Home Owners Grant Boost ends on 31 December 2009. What's more, only one in five (21%) suggested their search for a first home was reliant on interest rates remaining at the low levels we have had since February.

RAMS Head of Brand and Marketing, Lynne Wyatt was encouraged by the findings. "Earlier this year we saw an unprecedented number of first home buyers entering the market. At RAMS the number of first home buyers settling loans peaked in May. Since then we have seen their numbers return to a more sustainable level as the pent up demand of the last few years has been satisfied.

"There is no doubt that the Boost to the First Home Owners Grant was a catalyst and an enabler for many Australians to get a foot on the ladder but we expect to see continued healthy demand from people looking to buy their first home to continue for the rest of the year and well in to the next. We believe that in 2010 between fifteen and twenty per cent of our customers will continue to be first home buyers," said Lynne.

The results of the RAMS First Home Buyers' Pulse Check suggest that there is real resilience amongst first home buyers and that the majority of them would still be looking to buy even if interest rates continue to increase. In the first Pulse Check report, released in April 2009, 7 out of 10 first home seekers said they had been influenced to look for their first home by the FHOG boost. The findings of the second survey indicate that the FHOG is not as influential as it was earlier this year.

Lynne continued, "When we asked first home buyers what triggered them to look for their first home 30% said that it was getting a job with a steady income. This has overtaken `Moving in with a partner' as the number one reason first home buyers gave to start looking for their first home.

"As we saw in April, the biggest barriers to entering the market were still high property prices followed by the ability to save for a deposit. Perhaps as a result of the Australian economy not struggling to the extent many had feared, the percentage of respondents saying that fear of not being able to meet repayments was a barrier has actually dropped from 10% to 6%."

RAMS First Home Buyers' Pulse Check is available to download at:
www.ownyourfirsthome.com.au

RAMS Financial Group Pty Limited ABN 30 105 207 538 WA Finance Broker Licence No. 4602. Credit Provider: Westpac
Banking Corporation, ABN 33 007 457 141.

About the report
More than 800 Australians aged between 20 and 40 who were either intending to buy a first home in the next 12 months (528 respondents) or had purchased their first home in the previous 12 months (295 respondents) participated in the survey. The survey was conducted in August 2009. The first Pulse Check was carried out in February 2009 and a similar survey is expected to be commissioned every six months to monitor trends and perceptions amongst first home buyers. The RAMS First Home Buyers' Pulse Check provides an overview of attitudes and behaviours of the typical first home seekers and the typical first home owner. The study was conducted by independent market research and consumer insights firm, Nature Pty Ltd.

For further information, please contact:
Paul Smith
on 02 8218 6359
or 0437 896 093

SOURCE: RAMS Home Loans