Confidence returning for first-time buyers
IF you’re taking your first steps on the property ladder, Scotland is the place to be.
Research by Halifax has revealed that seven of the 10 most affordable local authority districts (LADs) in the UK are in Scotland.
Copeland in north west England is the most affordable district in the UK with an average property price of £ 107,232, or 2.72 times local average gross annual earnings.
Just behind it come West Dunbartonshire ( 2.72), and Renfrewshire (2.77). The other Scottish districts in the Top 10, all with average property prices of three times average local earnings are South, North and East Ayrshire, and Stirling.
By comparison, in parts of London average house prices are well over 10 times earnings.
Craig McKinlay, Mortgages Director at Halifax, commented: “First- time buyers are an important segment on the housing market, accounting for 46% of home purchases in the first six months of the year – up from 44% during the same period in 2013 and 40% in 2012.
“The resurgence in the number of first- time buyers getting on to the housing ladder has been buoyed by improving economic conditions, rising employment levels and government schemes such as Help to Buy, which have helped more first-time buyers on to the housing ladder.” Halifax’s latest First- Time Buyer Review shows that the number of first- time buyers in the first six months of 2014 was at its highest level for seven years.
There were an estimated 144,5001 firsttime buyers in the first six months of 2014, an increase of 25% on the same period last year. Mortgage payments now seem to be putting less of a strain on those first-time buyers able to get one. At 31%, the proportion of disposable income they are spending on mortgage payments is well below the peak of 41% reached in 2007.
In the same period the average deposit has almost doubled, from 10% to 19%.