Second-time buyers struggling to move

Posted: 24 May 2006 10:24:35 GMT

New research suggests that second-time buyers are finding life similarly difficult to those buying for the first-time.

While the plight of first-time buyers tends to get more attention, figures from Abbey indicate that half of all second-time buyers cannot afford to move.

The biggest obstacle is unsurprisingly gaining a bigger mortgage, although many also blame stamp duty and various legal fees.

Second-time buyers clearly have an advantage over first-time buyers in that they already have a house and so they are under much less stress.

Nonetheless, 34 per cent of people hope to move because they are dissatisfied with the area in which they live and 12 per cent want to move to reduce the commute to work or to be closer to family.

Encouragingly, finding a more desirable area is becoming much more achievable with the use of online searches, with buyers able to search the length and breadth of the country for a dream home.

Sellers are also benefiting by selling online in that they are able to appeal to homebuyers in all areas instead of just those in their immediate locality.


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