The price of a first-time buyer home in December 2005 rose 4.1 per cent from December 2004 and prices are rising faster than average earnings, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Recent research by Halifax shows that property in 85 per cent of towns surveyed (439 out of 514) is unaffordable for the typical first-time buyer.
But there is some cheap places where first-time buyers can get on the housing ladder. The cheapest place in the UK to buy a terraced house is Burnley in Lancashire, where the average price of a terraced house was £52,330 in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to Land Registry figures. This compares to a national average of £149,763.
The cheapest place in the UK to buy a flat is Aberdare in Wales. The average price of a flat was £42,500 in the fourth quarter of 2005. The UK average price for a flat is £149,763.
