Mortgages for new UK first-time buyers up ‘nearly £200 a month’ on a year ago

theguardian.com:

New first-time buyers are typically paying nearly £200 a month more on their mortgage than a year ago because of a combination of higher home loan rates and record asking prices for properties, new data shows.

The figures from property website Rightmove underline the challenging conditions facing those hoping to get on to the UK housing ladder, with separate figures this week indicating that house prices have resumed their upwards march at the same time that average rents are hitting fresh highs.

Rightmove said a typical new first-time buyer who was able to stump up a 15% deposit was now paying £1,056 a month, compared with the £865 the same individual would have paid a year ago – an extra £191 a month.

This is based on the average asking price for properties popular with first-time buyers, ie those with one or two bedrooms – which has climbed to a record level of £224,963 – combined with the average rate for a five-year fix, 85% loan-to-value mortgage spread over 25 years.

New fixed-rate deals had already started getting more expensive after interest rates began their upwards journey more than a year ago, but leapt up in the wake of last autumn’s disastrous mini-budget.

Since then, lenders have been gradually reducing the cost of their new fixed rates. The average new two-year fixed rate stood at 5.28% on Thursday, according to Moneyfactscompare.co.uk. The average new five-year fix stood at 4.97% at the start of this month but was 5% on Thursday.

However, there are best-buy deals available that are cheaper than that, for those who meet the criteria: this week, a number of five-year fixes were on sale with rates starting with a three.

This week brought evidence that the housing market may be continuing to defy those who had