First-time buyers 'at fresh low'
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The number of first-time home buyers in the UK has dropped to its lowest point since 1980 as house prices soar, mortgage lender Halifax says. An estimated 300,000 first-time buyers entered the market in 2007, 15,000 fewer than a year earlier.The average house was out of the reach of a typical first-time buyer in 96% of UK towns, Halifax found. The average price paid by a first-time buyer for a property increased by 15% during this year to £175,093. Priced out The price has soared 82% over the past five years, it added."Rising property values have priced many potential first-time buyers out of the housing market," Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax. "When they do enter the market, first-time buyers are now more likely to be in their 30s rather than their 20s and buy a flat rather than a terraced house." Henley-on-Thames was the UK's least affordable town, with an average property price of £642,672 - more than 13 times the average income of first-time buyer households in the area. Ilkley in West Yorkshire was the second least affordable town with average home values almost 12 times that of the average local first-time buyer household income. Seven out of 10 of the least affordable towns are in the South East. Bootle in Merseyside was the most affordable location with average price of £112,689 - just over three times the average household income for a local first-time buyer household. A house was classified as unaffordable if the average price was above four times the total income of the first-time buyer household. |
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