First-time buyers are having to find £29,127 for a cash deposit, it has been claimed.
Estate agency chains Your Move and Reeds Rains, both part of LSL, also said that first-time buyer sales fell away sharply in January, down from 26,100 in December to 21,200, while the average FTB price climbed from £154,815 to £160,304.
The agents said that this price was a record for FTBs, and was 12% more than the £143,343 paid on average in January last year.
The firms believe that the prices first-time buyers are paying have gone up as a direct result of Stamp Duty Land Tax reforms, which have allowed first-time buyers to divert an average of £900 into bigger deposits – in turn, allowing them to buy more expensive properties.
On average, deposits now represent 75.4% of a first-time buyer’s income compared with 70.6% a year ago.
In London, the average first-time buyer is having to pay a new record price of £308,067.
Comments (1)
I would say that considering the UK market as a whole went up circa 9.5% last year the lower end of the market going up 12% considering help-to-buy and stamp duty reforms isn’t that drastic.