First home buyer activity highest in seven years

New South Wales first home buyers have been the quickest to return to the property market, following softer house prices and falling rates.

An analysis of ABS September 2008 housing figures by RP Data released yesterday, showed that New South Wales first home buyers represented 21% of all first home buyer borrowings in September 2008.

Victoria and Western Australia represented 20.9% and 20.5% respectivley.

It is surprising that New South Wales and Western Australia held such large percentages of first home buyers given that Sydney and Perth are the two most expensive capital city property markets. By contrast, South Australia and Tasmania have fewer first home buyers, yet they are much more affordable markets.

The data also showed that New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia recorded their highest number of first home buyers since September 2001.