First-time buyers fall to 26 year low

Posted: 04 Jan 2007 10:48:54 GMT

The number of first-time buyers fell to a 26 year low in 2006, Halifax figures have shown, with just 315,000 new entrants to the market

The number of first-time buyers fell to a 26 year low in 2006, Halifax figures have shown, with just 315,000 new entrants to the market.

The average price for a starter home in the UK has almost doubled since 2001, rising from £77,914 to £151,565.

The average household hoping to get on the property ladder now has a choice of just seven per cent of towns in the UK where homes remain affordable by normal measures.

This has near-halved since 2005, when 13 per cent of towns in the UK were considered affordable for the average first-time buyer.

"The average house price paid by a first-time buyer more than £100,000 in each region of the UK for the first time in 2006," said Halifax economist Tim Crawford.

The most affordable town in the UK is Nelson in Lancashire, where the average price of a starter home is 3.4 times the average annual income of a first-time buyer.

The most expensive is Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire where the average home is 16.7 times the average first-time buyer's income.

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