First time buyers spend £150,000 on average

First time buyers spent an average of £151,565 on their first home in 2006, compared to £137,122 in 2005 a recent research from the Halifax. In 2001 the average price paid was £77,914.

The average first time buyer had an income of £29,610 in 2006 and paid a 19% deposit of £28,130.

First time buyers have dropped 7%, from 340,000 in 2005 to 315,000 in 2006 the lowest total since 1980. In1997 there were 503,000 first time buys.

Tim Crawford, Group Economist at Halifax said, ‘First time buyers continue to struggle to climb onto the property ladder with the average house price paid by a new buyer entering the market now above £150,000. This is close to double the level of five years ago. First time buyer affordability is now an issue across the UK with 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.’