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17 April 08 - Decade Sees House Prices Rise 200%
The price of homes for first-time buyers has doubled over
the past decade, research has shown.
People entering the property market paid an average of
£159,494 for a home last year, compared with about
£52,674 in 1997, according to housing charity Shelter.
And the average cost of first-time buyer properties in
London has exploded by 250% to nearly £260,000 over
the past 10 years.
But the average weekly income of a family in the UK has
increased by just 53% during the same period.
As a result the charity said it was now 78% harder for
first-time buyers to get on to the property ladder than
it was 10 years ago.
It warned that the situation meant a generation of young
people were being "locked out of the housing market".
Even recent news that house prices are falling will bring
little comfort to hard-pressed first-time buyers as any
savings they make from cheaper prices are being negated
by higher mortgage costs as a result of the credit crunch.
Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "Despite
falling house prices, many lenders are increasing their
mortgage rates, making an already desperate situation worse."
News items supplied by SelectNews, produced by PA Business,
part of the group that owns The Press Association, the UK's
national news agency. Copyright (c) PA Business 2007.
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