First time buyers ‘still getting raw deal’ with £449k average price for London home
First time buyers paid an average price of £449,000 for a London home, fresh statistics outlined today.
Third quarter average prices were down from £478,000 in the second quarter as the market cooled off from pandemic highs, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The average advance in the last quarter was £309,339 while the average recorded income of borrowers was £84,646.
Ten years ago, in the third quarter of 2011, first time buyers paid an average of £318,000.
Richard Dana, CEO and founder of Tembo Money, said the data “further reiterates that first time buyers are still getting a raw deal.”
He added: “Despite double-digit growth in house prices over the past year, the number of affordable houses that are being built over the past 12 months is at its lowest point for five years.”
The average dwelling price for first time buyers in England was £236,000 in the third quarter.
Adam Kamani, CEO and co-founder property portal of MoveStreets, added: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-time buyer or existing homeowner, buying a new-build or an existing property, the financial task of doing so has only grown larger over the last decade.
“The issue of property price affordability isn’t solely down to an increase in house prices and buyers are being squeezed from both sides due to the fact that average earnings simply haven’t kept pace.
“On the one hand, we’re now borrowing more in order to climb the ladder and the cost of this advance in relation to the price of property has increased by between four and seven per cent over the last decade. At the same time, this cost is also far greater when compared to the money we’re making.”
What’s more, the average advance was now more than three times the average income, Kamani added. “This financial barrier has grown by more than 20 per cent in the last 10 years.”
This means that not only are buyers borrowing more to buy pricier homes, they’re also earning less. “This means many are struggling to save and taking far longer to do so before they can realise their aspirations of homeownership,” Kamani added.