Saving the deposit for a new home has never been harder, Nationwide has said, with house prices having rise by 13% since the start of the pandemic.
Nationwide said the average price was now £248,857. Even though growth slowed a little last month at 10%, the average house was worth £150 more in September than it was the month before.
It is the fifth month in a row of double-digit annual house price growth. Nationwide’s data is largely in line with what other reports have shown: prices still rising but not as fast.
“A 20% deposit on a typical first-time buyer home is now around 113% of gross income, a record high,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.
The lender has just launched a sub-1% mortgage for buy-to-let investors.
