First-time buyers still accounted for over half (53%) of all home loans agreed in the first eight months of this year, a similar proportion as during the same period in 2022 (52%), as activity in the wider housing market slowed. This is according to the latest Halifax First-Time Buyer Review which also reveals that
A short U.S. housing market correction is now over, according to property analysts polled by Reuters who have wiped out forecasts for a price fall this calendar year but also look for stagnation in 2024 despite expectations for interest rate cuts. After the Federal Reserve rapidly raised the federal funds rate from near-zero to a range of 5.25-5.50% since March 2022, mortgage rates are at their highest and applications at their lowest in over two decades. After falling nearly 7% from a cycle high in June 2022 - well short of predictions made late last year for a 12% peak-to-trough fall - average house prices started rising again in February and are now only around 1% below their peak.
Even when adjusting for inflation, today’s homebuyers have by far the toughest financial task when it comes to housing affordability - with house prices sitting at 8.8 times the average earnings, more than doubling since the 1970s. This is the conclusion of recent research by property purchasing specialist House
It will take the average first-time 13 years to save for a house deposit, assuming prices don’t rise further, according to new research. Data from Interactive Investor shows that a 21-year old, saving 10% of their take-home pay, will not be able to put down a deposit on the average priced UK home until they are