In parts of the country, the average age of first time buyers was as low as 22 in the three months May-July, which compares starkly to the Halifax’s recently published national average of 33 years. Furthermore, in some areas, first time buyers have accounted for up to 60% of mortgages arranged by Mortgage Advice Bureau in that period.
First time buyer hotspots
The top 10 centres for young First Time Buyers for the three months May-July 2003 are as follows:
Town Average age of First Time Buyers % First Time Buyer mortgages arranged
May-July 2003
Warrington, Cheshire 22 50%
Crewe, Cheshire 23 60%
Bradford, West Yorks 24 75%
Huddersfield, W Yorks 24 47%
Mansfield, Derbyshire 25 55%
Wrexham, NorthWales 25 40%
Wallasey, Wirral 25 55%
Loughborough, Leics 26 33%
Reading, Berks 27 56%
Telford, Shropshire 27 40%
Source: Mortgage Advice Bureau
Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of Mortgage Advice Bureau comments:
“Certain areas of the country remain eminently affordable to first time buyers, and in these towns they are purchasing at ages far below the national average. We see a very definite divide between the extremely high prices in London and the South East, where first time buyers are struggling to find property that they can afford, and towns in the rest of the country, particularly the north and north west.”
