first time buyers

For the First Time in 20 Years, First Time Buyers Dominate the UK Property Market

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Despite a shortage of homes and the ongoing challenge of raising a deposit, first time buyers make up the largest part of the property market in the UK for the first time since 1995, new research from Halifax has found. This is good news for the housing market as new buyers coming on to the ladder are vital to the healthy movement of the housing market.

  • First Time account for over 50% of transactions
  • Average deposit is 14% of the property price
  • Terraced homes are a first time buyer favourite
  • Average deposit required in Scotland fell

The number of first-time buyers reached 372,000 last year, making them the majority of home purchasers for the first time in 20 years.

There has been an upward trend over the last seven years even though growth was slower in 2018 than in 2017, and first-time buyer numbers hit an all time low in 2008.

Now, first time buyers account for just over 50% of all house purchases with a mortgage. In 20018 this figure was 38%. The average price paid for a first home in the UK hack then was £153,030 and this has now gone up by 39% to £212,473. The average deposit has increased by 57% over the same period showing that a much higher deposit is required in order to purchase your first home today.

In 2008 the average deposit put down was 14% of the purchase price. This jumped to 20% in 2009 and has now come down to 15% of the purchase price.

The first choice for first time buyers today is terraced homes, followed by semi-detached properties and the average age of a first time buyer in 2018 was 31, ten years ago this was 29 perhaps because of the time it takes for buyers today to save for a deposit.

On a regional basis, while the numbers of first time buyers have increased nationally, the number of first time buyers in Scotland has dropped over the last year.

However, average deposits in Scotland fell due to a fall in the average deposit as a percentage of the purchase price, combined with slower house price growth.

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