There were an estimated 310,000 first-time buyers in the UK in 2015, according to the annual Halifax First-Time Buyer Review.

Although this represents a marginal decline (-0.5%) from 311,700 in 2014 - the first annual decline in the number of first-time buyers since 2011 - the number has apparently grown by almost two-thirds (60%) since 2011, from 193,700 to 310,000. The marginal decline in first-time buyers is in line with general residential house purchases, says Halifax, and is partly due to lack of supply.

The average price paid by first-time buyers increased by 10% in 2015, from £172,563 to £190,180; taking the price above the previous peak in 2007 (£174,994) for the first time.

The research also found that the average deposit paid by a first-time buyer is 13% higher than a year ago - £32,927 in 2015, compared to £29,094 in 2014 - and 88% higher than the average deposit in 2007 (£17,499).

Whilst a mortgage term of 25 years has been the norm for some time, many first-time buyers are increasingly taking out mortgages where payments are spread over a longer period. In 2007 the proportion of first-time buyers taking up a 35-year mortgage stood at 16%. By 2015 this figure had grown to 26%. Over the same period, the share of mortgages with a 20 to 25 year term dropped from 48% to 30%.

First-time buyers are an increasingly important part of the housing market, and accounted for 46% of all house purchases made with a mortgage in 2015; the same as in 2014. This share has grown from 36% at the start of the housing downturn in 2007.

"For the second year in succession, the number of buyers getting on the first rung of the housing ladder has reached 310,000,” commented Craig McKinlay, Mortgages Director at Halifax. “Although the average price of the typical first-time buyer home has grown by 10% in the past year, the number of buyers taking that first step onto the housing ladder has been supported by favourable economic conditions; namely, record low mortgage rates, rising employment and real pay growth.”

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