First-timers on property ladder at ten-year high
THE NUMBER of people taking their first step on the property ladder across 2017 was the highest in a decade – despite deposit sizes having doubled over that time, a report has found.
There were an estimated 359,000 first-time buyers across the UK in 2017 – taking levels nearly back to 2007, when 359,900 people made the jump onto the property ladder, according to Halifax.
But first-time buyers now need to an average deposit of £33,339 – a 91 per cent increase compared with £17,740 a decade ago, the research found, reflecting house price growth in recent years as well as people putting down bigger percentages of the house price.
In London, first-time buyers face finding an average deposit of £112,604. The average age of a first-time buyer across the UK in 2017 was 31 – two years older than a decade ago.
The latest Halifax First-Time Buyer Review found the number of first-time buyers increased by six per cent annually in 2017.
First-time buyer numbers have bounced back compared with a low point of 192,3002 in 2008 and are now just 11 per cent below a recent peak of 402,800 in 2006.
First-time buyers now account for nearly half (49 per cent) of all house purchases with a mortgage, compared with just over a third (36 per cent) a decade ago.
Halifax managing director Russell Galley said: “A flow of new buyers into home ownership is vital for the overall wellbeing of the UK housing market.
“This ten-year high in the number of first-time buyers shows continued healthy movement in this key area despite a shortage of homes and the ongoing challenge of saving enough of a deposit.”
He said low mortgage rates and first-time buyer schemes have helped the sector become a much bigger segment of the market.
Copeland in Cumbria was identified by Halifax as the most affordable district in the UK, with an average property price equating to 2.9 times the local average gross annual earnings.
Scotland dominated the list of the most affordable areas for first-time buyers, while London made up the least affordable top ten.
The least affordable area was identified as Brent, where the average first-time buyer property price is 12.9 times gross average annual earnings there.
The area with the most firsttime buyers in the country is the South-East with 69,326 followed by London with 42,983.
There were 30,003 in Yorkshire and the Humber, the sixth-highest out of 12 regions in the UK.
The average house price in Yorkshire and the Humber is £139,970 and the average deposit is £20,678, or 15 per cent.
The average for London is £422,580 with a deposit of £112,604 or 27 per cent. The ten least affordable districts for firsttime buyers, with the house price to average earnings ratio, according to Halifax, are all in London.