191,000 first home buyers in 2009 - RP Data

Research carried out by rpdata.com in its weekly Property Pulse report revealed that 191,000 first home buyers "seized the opportunity" in 2009.

Research analyst Cameron Kusher said first home buyers were an integral part of the property markets recovery during 2009.

However he said it was not necessarily the case that they artificially inflated prices as many people have claimed.

"During 2009, owner occupiers took out finance for approximately 739,000 dwellings of which 26% was taken out by first home buyers and the remaining 74% came from non first home buyers.

"Obviously first home buyers accounted for a much greater portion of the market during 2009 than in the past however, their portion still paled in comparison to non first home buyers," he said.

The research found that Western Australia was the most popular state for first home buyer purchasers during 2009 while May recorded the highest owner occupier finance commitments at 28.8%.

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John Symond: First home buyer market back to 'normal' - As new figures on the FHB market reveal numbers are declining, Aussie chairman John Symond says those that bought when the sector was "out of control" last year, ended up paying inflated prices