The overall number of first-time buyers dropped by 13% in 2020, as the housing market came to a halt during the first UK lockdown, new research by Halifax has revealed.

Halifax data showed that the overall number of first-time buyers in 2020 fell by more than 46,000 compared to 2019, from 351,260 to 304,657.

However, Halifax also reported that first-time buyer transactions “bounced back strongly” in the second half of the year once the market reopened – climbing by 52% from 121,050 in H1 to 183,607 in H2. Comparing the second half of 2020 to the same six-month period in 2019, first-time buyer transactions were down by just 2%, compared to -26% in H1.

In total, Halifax found that the number of first-time buyers as a proportion of all homes purchased with a mortgage “remained stable” last year at 50%. This compared to 51% in 2019 and 50% in 2018.

“Whilst these figures confirm the almost inevitable fall in the overall number of first-time buyers in 2020 – with the entire housing market effectively shuttered during the first national lockdown – they also underline just how strong the bounce back was in the second half of the year,” said Halifax managing director, Russell Galley.

“Despite the obvious challenges presented by soaring house prices, not least the need to raise an even bigger deposit, first-time buyers still accounted for half of all home purchases, a reassuring statistic given their overall importance to the market.”

Halifax’s figures showed that the average amount put down by a first-time buyer in 2020 was £57,278, which compared to £46,449 the year before – a rise of 23% (£10,829).

The research also found that the average age of a first-time buyer in the UK is now 31, just one year older than it was in 2010.

Galley added: “With the economic impact of the pandemic likely to be felt most keenly by the young and those in lower-paid jobs, the need to prioritise improved housing availability and affordability for all those looking to make that first step onto the property ladder becomes ever greater.”

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