Commercial Property News

Our magazines are published bi-monthly with in-depth features and news for the commercial property industry. On this page we have the latest news to keep you constantly updated on the market. On the left hand side of the page you can search our archived news which is stored monthly.



Monday, January 30, 2024

UK first time house buyers hit record low.

New research by Britain's biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax has shown that the number of first-time homebuyers has hit a record low in 2005 in the last quarter of a century. The report says that about 320,000 people made some purchases last year, but this figure was 10 percent less than that of 2004 and 40 percent less than that of 2002.

The report said that a person needs to deposit £24,000 for his/her first home and is aged 33 on average when doing so. The number of first time buyers slid to the lowest level since 1980, but there was a marginal rise in the latter half of the year. As far as the deposit is concerned, the Halifax report said that it was 76 percent of average earnings in 2005 as compared to 42 percent of average earnings in 2000.

Halifax also said that most first time buyers are "priced out" of the market. This was true with regard to semi-detached property in 87 percent of the towns as compared to 41 percent of the towns three years ago. Expectedly areas in London and the South East were the most expensive, while Nelson in Lancashire was the most affordable.