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First-time Buyers

First-time buyer house prices hit record high

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
29/06/2016

The price of a first home has risen to £173,282, and mortgage repayments are cheaper than ever

First-time buyers paid a record amount to get onto the housing ladder in May, according to estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains – an average of £173,282, up 2.7% from £168,656 in April.

The figure is 15.8% higher than a year ago, a £23K price hike to reach the highest figure on record.

This is despite overall house prices falling slightly by 0.4% in anticipation of the EU referendum on 23rd June.

Sales to first-time buyers were up 5% over the last 12 months, but down slightly compared to April (0.8%).

Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said: “Brexit worries haven’t dented first-time buyers’ appetite to own their own home. Many still want to capitalise on the record low mortgage rates available at the moment which mean that monthly mortgage repayments are increasingly affordable.

“In the short-term, the wider market wobbles may benefit first-timers, giving them the leverage to negotiate harder and get a good deal on purchase price. Canny first-timers will use any Brexit-lull as a chance to snap up a good deal and get on the housing ladder.”

The estate agents said that the average first-time buyer deposit in May was £27,669 and they secured an average mortgage rate of 3.08% – down 0.37 percentage points on this time last year, and a record low.

Regional split

The average first-time buyer property price now tops £150,000 in four regions – the East of England (£161,088), the South West (£165,068), the South East (£229,828), and London (£338,074).

The North East and Northern Ireland offer the cheapest options for first-time buyers. The average FTB house price in the North East – currently the cheapest region – sits at just £106,022, less than a third of the cost of the average price paid in London. These cheaper costs allowed 3,300 first-timers to purchase properties in this region between March and May this year.