Pandemic property boom sees first-time buyer prices soar

THE PANDEMIC property boom has moved the goalposts again for first-time buyers, with the average cost of a starter home increasing by £33,000.

Research by online platform Stipendium has revealed that in December 2019, the average firsttime buyer paid £195,267. Today this has climbed to £228,627, a 17% increase.

And it is even bigger in the South East region - the price of getting on the property ladder has increased, on average, by £42,344.

Only the South West has seen a bigger increase, at £43,291.

London has seen the smallest increase in the average price paid by a first-time buyer at 8%. However, this increase does amount to £31,759, making it the sixth largest monetary increase.

Christina Melling is the CEO of Stipendium, a platform focused around simplifying complex life events such as moving home.

She said: “The pandemic property market boom has been widely regarded as a positive to be taken from an otherwise tough period and in some cases, this is certainly true.

“However, the introduction of yet another demand focused government initiative in the form of the stamp duty holiday has only caused greater imbalance within the market, pushing the affordability of homeownership even further out of grasp for the nation’s first-time buyers.”

She added: “While prepandemic life may seem a long time ago, the financial commitment for the average firsttime buyer is now £30,000 higher than it was just two years ago.

“Unfortunately, until the government addresses the current housing crisis by actually building more homes, we can expect to see more of the same over the coming years.

“All we can do in the meantime, is best educate those looking to buy their first home on how they can save money during the overall process and what to expect when looking to buy.”