PROPERTY UPDATE: MY VIEW:THINGS are slowly getting better with mortgage enquiries picking up in the last few months but this is not to say that the majority of these enquiries are being approved, far from it in fact.

First-time buyers are easily the most active in relation to new enquiries, trader uppers are quite a way behind in second place with remortgages and investors far in the distance duking it out for third place. If first-time buyers are not buying then the trader uppers cannot move.

A year ago I told around 80 per cent of my new enquiries to pay off loans and save for a year and then come back to me. Quite a few of those did this and have been approved without too much fuss.

The banks are still lending but in a much tighter manner – if you can prove that you can afford the future mortgage repayments stress tested at say six per cent through a combination of rent being paid and/or monthly savings, that you are in full time “secure” employment for more than a year, have the necessary deposit in savings and are not living from pay cheque to pay cheque, then you have a decent chance of being approved.

The outlook for the next 12 months will depend on whether first-time buyers have the discipline to put themselves into a position where they can obtain approval or whether they give up on the idea altogether and rent instead.