When it comes to buying a home we’d all love to find that hidden gem that’s perfect for our needs and within budget. The reality of buying a home isn’t always that easy and you can guarantee that if you find your dream home, it won’t come cheap. Most buyers have a maximum budget in mind when it comes to searching for a property, but how many people are willing to over-spend for the perfect property and by how much?
A recent study has looked into data from millions of buyers, revealing a surprising amount of people that are prepared to go above and beyond for their dream home. A survey conducted by Ocean Finance found that 78% of the UK - roughly 43 million buyers - would be happy to spend more than they originally intended for the property that ticks all the right boxes.
What’s possibly the most surprising statistic of the entire study is that 62% - 31 million buyers - would be prepared to spend up to 10% over budget, which could add an average &28,000 to the price tag or just over &900 in rent annually.
There are even some buyers willing to go a huge 20% or more over budget, with 2% of people willing to pay approximately &56,000 more than intended on a property or just less than &1,900 in rent annually.
The findings of this research also revealed specific areas where buyers are prepared to overspend, with 77% of London based buyers and 79% of Scottish & Northern Irish buyers appear more likely to dig a little deeper into their pockets for the right home. The research also shows that the same applies to under the age of 35, with 80% of this demographic prepared to borrow that little extra towards a home.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have roughly 1 in 4 people who would not be tempted to go over their original budget, even if the home came extra features on their wish list.
Spokesperson for Ocean Finance, Ian Williams spoke on the recent results stating that “Whether we are renting or buying a property most of us have a budget that we can afford in mind. But three quarters of us are happy to ignore the budget and stretch our finances to get the home that ticks all our boxes,”
A breakdown of the results can be found below:
Percentage Of Participants
|
Percentage Over Budget
|
34%
|
0% - 5%
|
28%
|
6% - 10%
|
7%
|
11% – 15%
|
4%
|
16% - 20%
|
1%
|
21% - 25%
|