This was up from 3.20 times the average income in May, and 3.06 times in the same month last year.
But, despite this rise, the number of first-time buyers taking out new loans went up by 14 per cent – from 34,800 in May to 39,500 in June. This is the highest number of first-time buyers since December 2002.
Michael Coogan, CML Director General, said: “It is interesting to see that even though average first-time buyer income multiples are the highest on record, first-time buyers are still finding ways of getting on to the property ladder.
“It is likely that more and more young buyers are turning to parents and grandparents to help them raise the deposit for their first home.”
The research also revealed that fixed-rate mortgage products declined slightly by 2 per cent – from 143,000 loans in May, to 140,600 loans in June.
Even so, fixed rate products still accounted for 68 per cent of all new loans – up from 57 per cent in the same month last year.
Coogan said: “This month’s jump in the number of people taking out tracker loans which follow the base rate is mainly due to their attractive pricing over recent months. But fixed-rate products still remain the dominant mortgage product for the majority of borrowers.
“This is encouraging, because it shows that many people are thinking of their financial future and locking themselves in to attractive rates in the short-to-medium term to ensure payment certainty.”
