The number of people moving home hit a ten-year high during 2017, recovering from a drop a year before, Lloyds Bank says.
Its annual Home Mover Review showed there were 370,300 home moves last year, up 2% annually but still 43% below the peak of 653,700 in 2007.
The data is based on figures from the Lloyds Banking Group house price database, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Office for National Statistics and the Bank of England.
The south-east region had the highest number of home movers at 65,400 – more than double the next highest region, the south-west with 27,500. Northern Ireland had the lowest number at 4,400.
London was the only region to experience a decline, falling 6% to 22,600 during 2017.
The average deposit put down has increased by 45% over the past five years to £100,387 in 2017 and movers are now paying £296,731 on average.
Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, attributed the boost to record low mortgage rates last year.
He said: “We’ve seen a slight increase in the number of movers following a weak 2016. This could be down to low mortgage rates, rising house prices and high employment levels.
“House price increases will have boosted equity levels for many home owners, enabling movement along the housing ladder.
“For the first time, movers are choosing to pay an average deposit of over £100,000, with Londoners putting down nearly double this.
“Taking advantage of increased equity levels by putting down a bigger deposit can really make a big difference towards what movers can afford and can be the difference between a good home and the right home.”
It must be a hangover from Blue Monday but am I the only reader to be totally confused by this story?
You refer to last year being 43% down from “2017” – maybe another year. Ummmm – is this the new maths that everyone is talking about?!
Secondly, given that sales volumes is such a dark art that only the likes of Henry Pryor seems to understand, could someone explain how these figures relate to Land Registry, HMRC and mortgage lender figures because I simply have no clue!
Are we saying that out of the latest guesstimated figure of say 850,000 transactions last year 500,000 were NOT to home movers? Given that buy-to-let are like hen’s teeth, first time buyers are not queuing around the block and thanks to Brexit there are no foreign buyers … What is the answer here?
Confused Of Guildford
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Good spot Peter, that should be down 43% from 2007. It has now been amended.
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