Homebuyers are more resistant than cohorts in other nations to adapting their expectations, finances and lifestyles to purchase a property, research suggests.
Property data brand Cotality, analysed purchasing behaviour across the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – with some differences driven primarily by affordability concerns.
Across all five countries, 69% of respondents would cut lifestyle spending, 65% would consider taking a smaller mortgage and 59% would consider buying a smaller home.
Buyers haven’t stepped away from the market, but there is less room for compromise.”
The equivalent figures for Britain were 59%, 53% and 42%, respectively – suggesting that British buyers are particularly resistant to changing their spending and borrowing plans, or considering a smaller property.
It may reflect the Britain’s comparatively smaller homes, prolonged economic pressures and the larger deposits many buyers already need to raise, Cotality said.
Jim Driver (pictured), Managing Director at Cotality UK, says: “The important message from this research is that buyers haven’t stepped away from the market, but there is less room for compromise than we see in other countries.”
Value of certainty
The report found that buyers across all five markets increasingly value certainty throughout the transaction process.
In Britain, 66% of buyers said they would choose certainty over speed when purchasing a home. Buyers want clear costs, transparency around mortgage decisions and confidence that their transaction will successfully complete.
Cotality says the findings reinforce the need for the Government’s Homebuying and Selling Reform that will improve transparency and provide buyers, sellers and lenders with better information earlier in the process.
Driver adds: ”The UK housing market asks consumers to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives without consistently providing the information they need at the point they need it.
“Whether through digital property information, improved data sharing or clearer visibility of a home’s condition and energy performance, we believe better information creates better outcomes. The more certainty we can provide buyers and sellers, the more efficiently the market can operate.”
