Middlesbrough: The northern town where you can buy four homes for the price of one in St Albans
New analysis reveals that first-time buyers in some parts of the UK are facing a significant increase in asking price, with some areas experiencing an increase of almost a fifth on last year.
Property website Rightmove, which excluded London from its research, identified Bridlington in Yorkshire and St Helens on Merseyside as leading hotspots.
In these areas, average asking prices for typical first-time buyer properties have increased by 18% year on year.
Further north, Falkirk in Scotland recorded a 17% year-on-year increase, while Hartlepool in the north-east of England experienced a 12% increase.
The research defined first-time buyer homes as properties with no more than two bedrooms, which includes both houses and flats.
Rightmove noted that the fastest-growing areas on its list generally have average prices below £170,000, underlining the continued demand for more affordable housing options.
Conversely, some high-priced markets in the south, including Brighton and Southampton, appear to see first-time buyer prices fall on the previous year.
Rightmove said the average asking price for a typical first-time homebuyer across the survey was £228,048, down 0.7% year on year.
St Albans in Hertfordshire was also found to be the most expensive area to buy a typical first-time buyer’s home, at £401,352.
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Rightmove said the cheapest was Middlesbrough. A first-time homebuyer could buy four houses in Middlesbrough for the price of one in St Albans. The average asking price for a first-time home buyer in Middlesbrough is £90,929.
Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock said: “Affordability continues to shape where first-time buyers are looking, and we are seeing the strongest price growth in areas where homes are affordable to more people.
“Low-cost locations are still attracting strong interest, with competition for housing helping to push prices higher.
“In more expensive markets, renters are putting in a little more time and thinking more carefully about what they can afford, which is keeping growth relatively steady.”
As well as rising asking prices in some regions, first-time buyers will also face the hurdle of rising mortgage interest rates amid conflict in the Middle East and wider economic uncertainty. However, many lenders have been reducing mortgage rates in recent weeks.
Rightmove analyzed properties that came to market with first-time buyers in May, where there were at least 20 new listings and at least 20 sales were agreed.
This analysis excluded London due to significantly higher asking price levels, which Rightmove said could skew comparisons with the rest of the UK.
Nathan Emerson, managing director of property professional society Propertymark, said: “These figures show that affordability continues to drive first-time buyer activity, with the strongest price growth concentrated in areas where homeownership is within reach.
“While demand remains strong in many Northern England and Scottish markets, buyers still face challenges due to high mortgage costs, ongoing living expenses and saving for deposits.
“The differences in price increases across the country reflect the impact of local market conditions, with affordable areas continuing to attract strong demand.”
Here are the top 10 areas with the fastest annual percentage growth in asking prices for a typical first-time homebuyer, according to Rightmove: The figures show the average asking price, followed by the annual increase:
=1. Bridlington, Yorkshire and Humber, £167,321, 18%
=1. St Helens, North West, £133,106, 18%
3. Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, £118,311, 17%
=4. Hartlepool, North East, £104,276, 12%
=4. Dewsbury, Yorkshire and Humber, £130,133, 12%
=6. Greenock, Scotland, £93,998, 11%
=6. Inverness, Scotland, £167,009, 11%
=8. Great Yarmouth, East of England, £149,315, 9%
=8. Blackburn, North West, £116,735, 9%
10. Airdrie, Scotland, £106,472, 8%
According to Rightmove, here are the 10 cold spots for first-time homebuyers where price falls are the biggest:
1. Exeter, South West, £201,248, minus 20%
2. Derby, East Midlands, £143,043, minus 10%
3. Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, South East, £263,906, minus 9%
=4. Doncaster, Yorkshire and Humber, £109,477, minus 8%
=4. Torquay, South West, £172,835, minus 8%
=6. Motherwell, Scotland, £108,458, minus 7%
=6. Southampton, South East, £187,443, minus 7%
=6. Parkstone, Poole, South West, £248,963, minus 7%
=9. Hove, South East, £326,783, minus 5%
=9. Poole, Dorset, South West, £244,175, minus 5%
According to Rightmove and the annual change, the most expensive hotspots for first-time buyers, excluding London, for average asking prices are:
1. St Albans, East of England, £401,352, 2%
2. Epsom, South East, £374,376, 0%
3. Oxford, South East, £367,503, 5%
4. Clifton, Bristol, South West, £365,338, minus 1%
5. Cambridge, East of England, £351,126, 1%
6. Brentwood, East of England, £347,844, 7%
7. Hertford, East of England, £336,690, 1%
8. Bath, South West, £335,552, minus 4%
9. Wokingham, South East, £332,806, minus 1%
10. Hove, South East, £326,783, minus 5%
According to Rightmove, the cheapest spots for first-time buyers outside London are:
1. Middlesbrough, North East, £90,929, minus 1%
2. Grimsby, Yorkshire and Humber, £92,031, 2%
3. Kilmarnock, Scotland, £92,380, 4%
4. Greenock, Scotland, £93,998, 11%
5. Paisley, Scotland, £95,430, minus 2%
6. Irvine, Scotland, £96,768, 6%
7. Aberdeen, Scotland, £97,002, 2%
8. Stockton-on-Tees, North East, £97,680, minus 2%
9. Birkenhead, Wirral, North West, £100,179, 2%
10. Burnley, North West, £100,734, 0%
