First-time buyers are set to be overtaken by existing homeowners as the largest buyer demographic as COVID-19 drives a shift in the profile of home buyers, according to the latest findings in the monthly House Price Index by Zoopla.

First-time buyers have been the driving force of the housing market for the last decade – supported by Help-to-Buy and greater competition amongst lenders in the 90%+ loan to value (LTV) mortgage market. At the same time, the proportion of sales by existing homeowners has declined.

However, the current market uncertainty combined with a reliance on higher loan to value mortgages to fund purchases is starting to impact the scale of first-time buyer demand and, moreover, their ability to purchase a home.

Zoopla figures show that despite a spike in demand amongst first-time buyers when the English housing market reopened after a 50 day closure on 13th May, demand has trended downwards over the last two months and is now back in line with pre-COVID levels. First-time buyer demand is set to weaken further over the rest of 2020 and into 2021.

The portal says that the remainder of 2020 and the start of 2021 are set to witness a reversal of the first-time buyer market dominance with a greater share of moves by existing homeowners who tend to move less often.

The search for space and the once in a lifetime re-valuation of what a home is worth in the wake of the pandemic means demand from existing homeowners shows no sign of weakening and remains 37% higher than pre-COVID levels and 53% higher than this time last year.