Falling house prices might result in more people being able to afford their own homes, according to a study from Hometrack.
Falling UK house prices could allow many more people to gain a foothold on the property ladder, a new study has suggested.
Property analysts at Hometrack say that 20 per cent of those who currently feel priced out of the market could be let in by a fall in average prices of just ten per cent. This could particularly help out people in London and the south west, areas in which property is particularly unaffordable.
Hometrack also found in its research that 28 per cent of young people in work and yet to buy their own home cannot do so due to not having enough money. Even in the region where property is most affordable, the north east of England, the figure stands at 17 per cent.
House prices are currently falling in the UK, studies suggest. Most recently, the latest house price survey from Nationwide found that they had declined by 2.5 per cent in the past month alone: a trend which might give hope to many of those who have been shut out of the market.
However, housing expert Professor Steve Wilcox, on whose research the report was derived, warned that a drop in prices alone might not alleviate this problem; as lenders might further tighten their criteria for borrowers and further raise mortgage costs, keeping the property ladder out of reach.
"While house prices are falling, access to the property market is being increasingly limited by the costs and more restrictive terms of a substantially reduced supply of mortgage finance," he said.
"Without further measures to restore the availability and accessibility of mortgage finance there is the risk of a severe downturn, with all the harmful consequences that this entails."
