The average house price for first-time homebuyers in the United Kingdom (UK) was 288,000 British pounds in 2023, down from 302,000 British pounds the year before. Most regions experienced a slight decline in 2023. The South East and London were the most expensive regions to buy a home, with the average house prices was 353,724 British pounds and, 492234 British pounds, respectively.

The average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for first-time buyers (FTBs) remained relatively stable from 2017 to 2023. In 2017, the LTV stood at 79.7 percent, meaning that the average first-time buyer mortgage loan amounted to almost 80 percent of the total house price. The highest LTV ratio was observed in 2020 at 81.9 percent, followed by a decline in the following years to approximately 80.2 percent in 2022 and 80.3 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, loans to second and subsequent borrowers had a notably lower LTV ratio.

To obtain a mortgage, first-time homebuyers in the United Kingdom (UK) need to save a deposit amounting to about 19 percent of the property purchase price. The higher the property value and the loan amount, the higher the deposit. In 2023, the average first-time buyer deposit in the UK was about 53,414 British pounds, but in the most expensive region, Greater London, the deposit amount was more than double. The share of the deposit was also much higher than in other regions in the UK. How has the house price for first-time buyers changed over time? Housing bought by first-time buyers has become increasingly more expensive since 2000, making it harder for renters to get on the property ladder. By 2023, the average house price had tripled. The price also varied in different regions, with the North East being the least expensive and Greater London – the priciest. Which are the most affordable areas for first-time buyers? While housing in certain areas can be pricy, this does not necessarily make it unaffordable, as the standard of living may also be higher. In 2021, the most affordable towns for first-time buyers were found in the North West region (Burnley) and Scotland (East Ayshire, North Ayshire, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire).

This page is no longer being updated. Please use the UK House Price Index instead.

Mix-adjusted house prices, by new/pre-owned dwellings, type of buyer (first time buyer) and region, from February 2002 for London and UK, and average mix-adjusted prices by UK region, and long term Annual House Price Index data since 1969 for London.

The ONS House Price Index is mix-adjusted to allow for differences between houses sold (for example type, number of rooms, location) in different months within a year. House prices are modelled using a combination of characteristics to produce a model containing around 100,000 cells (one such cell could be first-time buyer, old dwelling, one bedroom flat purchased in London). Each month estimated prices for all cells are produced by the model and then combined with their appropriate weight to produce mix-adjusted average prices. The index values are based on growth rates in the mix-adjusted average house prices and are annually chain linked.

The weights used for mix-adjustment change at the start of each calendar year (i.e. in January). The mix-adjusted prices are therefore not comparable between calendar years, although they are comparable within each calendar year. If you wish to calculate change between years, you should use the mix-adjusted house price index, available in Table 33.

The data published in these tables are based on a sub-sample of RMS data. These results will therefore differ from results produced using full sample data. For further information please contact the ONS using the contact details below.
House prices, mortgage advances and incomes have been rounded to the nearest £1,000.
Data taken from Table 2 and Table 9 of the monthly ONS release.

Download from ONS website

For the past decade, buying a home in the UK has been more affordable than renting one, when only considering the monthly costs. The renting versus buying gap fluctuated during the period and in 2016, it reached its highest value of 131 British pounds. In 2023, the monthly costs for a first-time buyer were 1,231 British pounds, compared to 1,258 British pounds for renters. Rental growth vs house price growth Housing costs in the UK have been on an uprise, with both renting and buying a home increasingly unreachable. Though the monthly costs of buying have consistently been lower in the past decade, house price growth has been much stronger than rental growth since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, buyers have been affected by the aggressive mortgage rate hikes, making acquiring their first home even less affordable. Barriers to homeownership Buying a home is not straightforward. For younger (18-40) potential first-time buyers, there are a number of barriers. Approximately one in three first-time buyers point out that raising a deposit was the main obstacle. Other reasons stopping buyers were not being able to take out a mortgage on their current income and poor credit ratings. Unsurprisingly, the highest share of people who buy a home with a mortgage was in the age group of 45 to 55-year-olds.

Data on resident buyers who are persons that purchased a residential property in a market sale and filed their T1 tax return form: number of and incomes of residential property buyers, sale price, price-to-income ratio by the number of buyers as part of a sale, age groups, first-time home buyer status, buyer characteristics (sex, family type, immigration status, period of immigration, admission category).

United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer Met data was reported at 286,001.028 GBP in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 287,680.911 GBP for Mar 2018. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer Met data is updated quarterly, averaging 100,707.966 GBP from Mar 1983 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 142 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 287,680.911 GBP in Mar 2018 and a record low of 29,106.525 GBP in Mar 1983. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer Met data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Nationwide. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.P001: House Price: Nationwide.

The average sales price of new homes in the United States experienced a slight decrease in 2024, dropping to 512,2000 U.S. dollars from the peak of 521,500 U.S. dollars in 2022. This decline came after years of substantial price increases, with the average price surpassing 400,000 U.S. dollars for the first time in 2021. The recent cooling in the housing market reflects broader economic trends and changing consumer sentiment towards homeownership. Factors influencing home prices and affordability The rapid rise in home prices over the past few years has been driven by several factors, including historically low mortgage rates and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the market has since slowed down, with the number of home sales declining by over two million between 2021 and 2023. This decline can be attributed to rising mortgage rates and decreased affordability. The Housing Affordability Index hit a record low of 98.1 in 2023, indicating that the median-income family could no longer afford a median-priced home. Future outlook for the housing market Despite the recent cooling, experts forecast a potential recovery in the coming years. The Freddie Mac House Price Index showed a growth of 6.5 percent in 2023, which is still above the long-term average of 4.4 percent since 1990. However, homebuyer sentiment remains low across all age groups, with people aged 45 to 64 expressing the most pessimistic outlook. The median sales price of existing homes is expected to increase slightly until 2025, suggesting that affordability challenges may persist in the near future.

Graph and download economic data for Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (MSPUS) from Q1 1963 to Q4 2024 about sales, median, housing, and USA.

On average, first-time homebuyers In the United Kingdom (UK) saved up 19 percent of the home price for a down payment in 2023, amounting to close to 53,000 British pounds. In Greater London, which was the priciest region to buy a home, the down payment was higher, at 22 percent.

United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Wales data was reported at 126,084.927 GBP in Sep 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 126,187.749 GBP for Jun 2018. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Wales data is updated quarterly, averaging 50,077.037 GBP from Mar 1983 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 143 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 130,601.260 GBP in Jun 2007 and a record low of 18,143.060 GBP in Mar 1983. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Wales data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Nationwide. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.P001: House Price: Nationwide.

This dataset contains quarterly median loan to value ratios for first time buyers in England.

This dataset contains quarterly median loan to value ratios for first time buyers in England. The data is owned by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and permission has been given to publish to ODC.

Mix-adjusted house prices, by new/pre-owned dwellings, type of buyer (first time buyer) and region, from February 2002 for London and UK, and average mix-adjusted prices by UK region.

The data published in these tables are based on a sub-sample of RMS data. These results will therefore differ from results produced using full sample data. For further information please contact the ONS using the contact details below.
House prices, mortgage advances and incomes have been rounded to the nearest £1,000.
Data taken from Table 2 and Table 9 of the monthly ONS release.
The weights used for mix-adjustment change at the start of each calendar year (i.e. in January). The mix-adjusted prices are therefore not comparable between calendar years, although they are comparable within each calendar year. If you wish to calculate change between years, you should use the mix-adjusted house price index, available in Table 33.

Download from ONS website

United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: North data was reported at 101,010.107 GBP in Sep 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 103,235.516 GBP for Jun 2018. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: North data is updated quarterly, averaging 42,059.806 GBP from Mar 1983 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 143 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 108,409.991 GBP in Jun 2007 and a record low of 21,276.199 GBP in Mar 1983. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: North data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Nationwide. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.P001: House Price: Nationwide.

United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer South East data was reported at 225,030.393 GBP in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 221,176.892 GBP for Mar 2018. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer South East data is updated quarterly, averaging 76,764.217 GBP from Mar 1983 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 142 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 225,030.393 GBP in Jun 2018 and a record low of 24,343.620 GBP in Mar 1983. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: Outer South East data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Nationwide. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.P001: House Price: Nationwide.

The house price-to-income ratio in Australia was 122.1 as of the third quarter of 2024. This ratio, calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head, increased from the previous quarter. The price-to-income ratio can be used to measure housing affordability in a specific area. Australia's property bubble There has been considerable debate over the past decade about whether Australia is in a property bubble or not. A property bubble refers to a sharp increase in the price of property that is disproportional to income and rental prices, followed by a decline. In Australia, rising house prices have undoubtedly been an issue for many potential homeowners, pricing them out of the market. Along with the average house price, high mortgage interest rates have exacerbated the issue. Is the homeownership dream out of reach? Housing affordability has varied across the different states and territories in Australia. In 2024, the median value of residential houses was the highest in Sydney compared to other major Australian cities, with Brisbane becoming an increasingly expensive city. Nonetheless, expected interest rate cuts in 2025, alongside the expansion of initiatives to improve Australia's dwelling stock, social housing supply, and first-time buyer accessibility to properties, may start to improve the situation. These encompass initiatives such as the Australian government's Help to Buy scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) programs.

In 2024, the average age of recent first-time buyers in London was slightly higher than the England average. Across the UK, first-time buyers accounted for approximately 290,000 home sales. First-time buyer prices and mortgages In London, the average value of a mortgage for first-time buyers was far higher than all other regions in the UK. Apart from the initial cost of a down payment, those that can afford to, see monthly payment savings against those renting. In certain parts of the country, annual savings of buying against renting saw first time buyers amounted to over two thousand British pounds. Help to buy To encourage first-time buyers, the UK government started the "Help to buy" scheme. The scheme sees people saving for a first-time home receive a 25% bonus to their savings when purchasing a house valued at 250,000 British pounds (450,000 British pounds in London). Between December 2015 and March 2018, the North West of England saw the highest number of Help to buy ISA bonuses paid.

United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: West Midlands data was reported at 153,469.887 GBP in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 150,885.997 GBP for Mar 2018. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: West Midlands data is updated quarterly, averaging 58,634.809 GBP from Mar 1983 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 142 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 153,469.887 GBP in Jun 2018 and a record low of 17,785.312 GBP in Mar 1983. United Kingdom House Price: Qtr: First Time Buyer: West Midlands data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Nationwide. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.P001: House Price: Nationwide.

Help to Buy - Wales is a £170 million shared equity loan scheme designed to support home ownership, stimulate building activity and provide a boost to the housing sector and wider economy. Under the scheme, loans are available to buyers wishing to purchase a new-build property worth up to £300,000. Help to Buy Wales support is available to all home buyers (not just first time buyers) who wish to purchase a new home, but may be constrained in doing so – for example, as a result of deposit requirements – but who could otherwise be expected to repay a mortgage. A shared equity loan of up to a maximum of 20% of the property purchase price is available. In addition, buyers are required to provide a 5% and will then need to secure a mortgage to cover the remaining balance. All builders (of all sizes) are able to register with the scheme and sell properties through the initiative. The data shown here are aggregated from the individual transaction records recorded by Help to Buy Wales Ltd, an extract of which is supplied monthly to Welsh Government.