According to a report, the number of people who took their first steps on the property ladder during 2017 was the highest in a decade, and that’s despite deposit sizes doubling over that time period.
Across the UK, there were an estimated 359,000 first-time buyers in 2017, which almost put levels back to where they were in 2007 according to Halifax, where 359,900 people decided to hop onto the property ladder.
However, nowadays first-time buyers need to find an average deposit of £33,339, which is a staggering 91% increase compared to £17,740 a decade ago, so says the research, which not only reflects the house price growth in recent years, but also the number of people opting to put down bigger percentages of the house price.
The most affordable district in the UK has been identified as the South Cumbrian region of Copeland, which has an average property price that equates to 2.9 times the local average gross annual earnings.
In London meanwhile, first-time buyers are looking at forking out an average deposit of £112,604
According to the latest Halifax First-Time Buyer Review, the number of first-time buyers rose by 6% annually across 2017.
Compared to a low point of 192,302 in 2008, first-time buyer numbers have considerably bounced back from then, and have grown to the point it’s now 11% below a recent peal of 402,800 in 2006.
In fact, first-time buyers now account for almost half (49%) of all house prances with a mortgage, which is in stark comparison to a decade ago, where those figures were just over a third (36%).
