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%.”