Prices up 11% for first-time buyers

The average house price for first-time buyers rose by 11% in the year to the end of November compared with 9.5% for existing owners, official figures show. First-time buyers paid an average of £208,000 for their first home, according to new data from the ONS. Overall, UK house prices rose by 10% in the year to the end of November. This was a slowdown compared with the annual increase of 10.4% the previous month. Prices rose fastest in Northern Ireland, where they climbed 11.7%, followed by a 10.4% rise in England, a 4.4% increase in Scotland and a 3.1% rise in Wales. Regionally, price rises were again led by London (up 15.3%), the East of England (up 11.9%) and the South East of England (up 10.8%). The slowest rise in the English regions was a 5.1% increase in the West Midlands. The figures also reveal that the rate of annual property price growth is rising in some regions at the same time as it is slowing in London. Annual price growth in the capital slowed from 17.2% in the year to October, to 15.3% in the 12 months to November. At the same time the rate of annual house price growth in the rest of the UK increased from 6.7% to 7.1%.

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