First-time homebuyers are being shut out of the market like never before.
While a flood of first-time buyer buyers has made the housing sector increasingly competitive in recent years, more first-time buyers are being forced to jump through hoops to get a home and are increasingly finding themselves priced out of the market.
As the proportion of first-time buyers falls, the housing market is becoming less affordable.
But with a growing number of millennials out of job, are first-time buyers in a crisis?
Natalie Moore, of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: ‘You’ve got to get into a position where you can afford a starter home because it’s actually more difficult.
‘So there are more people that are trying to sell their homes.’
The biggest impact is a sudden dip in house prices that has left those who bought at the height of the market almost out of luck.
‘The first-time buyer market is now falling apart,’ said Natalie Moore, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing. ‘When this market was roaring, you had the perfect home.’
Image: The latest buyers market – the proportion of house sales that are first-time buyers fell from 22% in 2010 to 7% today
In the last year, first-time buyers are falling from a 22 per cent share of house sales to 7 per cent with this year’s figures likely to be similar.
That suggests the average household in England is now likely to have £33,000 less than it did when it bought just over £260,000 in 2010. Now they will be paying a 30 per cent share of their income on housing costs.
The median annual house price is now down to £160,000 and those on the lower end of the property ladder are now struggling to find a home while the prices of homes above £500,000 are rising at the fastest rate since the 1980s.
In this tight market, those with the ability could easily find themselves on the waiting list for a house, as they are unable to sell for the