First Time Buyers Not Put Off By Rising House Prices

The Key Statistics

According to the Halifax First-Time Buyer Review 2021:

• First time buyers (FTBs) increased by 35% on the previous year, despite the rising price of property.
• The average FTB is now 32 years old, up from 29 a decade earlier, and is now over 30 years old in every UK region.
• The average deposit is £53,935 – a fall of 6%.
• Rising 3%, the average house price is now £264,140.
• Each region in the UK saw an increase in new buyers. London saw the largest increase of 49%, and Scotland the smallest at 24%.

Esther Dijkstra, Mortgage Director at Halifax, said there were a number of factors influencing home buying decisions in 2021.

“The Stamp Duty holiday increased the availability of first-rung homes as others moved up the ladder. However, undoubtedly, the biggest drivers are the cost of homes and the need to save a significant deposit to get on the housing ladder.

In 2021, the increase in average house price to £264,140, combined with difficulties in raising a deposit, meant that the gap between purchase price and deposit widened in every region in the UK.”

The average price to earnings ratio for UK first-time buyers now stands at 6.9x. Affordability in all but three local authorities has fallen since 2011. In some authorities it has almost doubled, meaning affordability has halved. The least affordable local authority for FTBs is the London borough of Brent, where homes are 12.3x average earnings!

Source: Halifax First-Time Buyer Review 2021 (lloydsbankinggroup.com)

However, despite all the difficulties it would appear that the desire to own your own home remains as strong as ever in the UK.

For further information, please contact Ed or Kelly on 01284 365345 or email ed@granitebw.co.uk / kelly@granitebw.co.uk.