Stepping on to the property ladder means striking a balance between location and affordability, and given it's such a large investment, it pays to do your research.
Even in areas that are geographically close, there can be high price discrepancies, so local insight is important.
With this in mind, we've crunched the data to reveal how much a first-time buyer needs to earn and save for a deposit to buy a home in the UK.
And if you’re looking for the best places to live in Belfast, our table, below, shows you the areas that are most affordable for first-time buyers.
| Postcode | Area | Average house price | Average deposit required | Average household income required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT13 | Shankill Road, Woodvale, Ballygomartin | £71,021 | £8,807 | £15,554 |
| BT12 | Sandy Row, The Village, Falls Road | £77,647 | £9,628 | £17,005 |
| BT15 | York Road, Antrim Road, New Lodge | £85,245 | £10,570 | £18,669 |
| BT14 | Crumlin Road, Ballysillan, Ardoyne | £87,346 | £10,831 | £19,129 |
| BT17 | Dunmurry, Hannahstown, Derriaghy | £108,250 | £13,423 | £23,707 |
| BT4 | Sydenham, Belmont, Stormont | £113,533 | £14,078 | £24,864 |
| BT11 | Andersontown, Lenadoon, Suffolk | £116,580 | £14,456 | £25,531 |
| BT5 | Castlereagh, Clarawood, Crossnacreevy | £120,156 | £14,899 | £26,314 |
| BT7 | Ormeau, Botanic, University | £122,934 | £15,244 | £26,922 |
Quick stats about Belfast:
The average first-time buyer property (two-to-three-bedroom house) in Belfast costs £116,205, with the average deposit required being £14,409.
Average income required from a first-time buyer household is £25,449.
Belfast is one of the most affordable areas of the UK to buy a first-time home. Of its 15 postcode areas, seven have an average house price to earnings ratio of less than four. With banks and building societies capping lending at around four times annual salaries, almost half of the city's districts are affordable for buyers.
The most affordable area is Shankill Road, Woodvale and Ballygomartin (BT13), with locations such as Sandy Row, The Village, Falls Road, and York Road, Antrim Road, New Lodge all seeing average property prices far lower than £100,000.
Even the most expensive area, Finaghy, (BT10) compares favourably to other parts of the UK. Here, the average property costs £160,262, demanding a deposit of £19,872 and a household income of £35,097.
How have we calculated it?
We've looked at the average price of two-to-three-bedroom homes - the most common type of property purchase for first-time buyers in all Belfast postcodes.
We've then taken the average mortgage advance from lenders in the region and worked out both the average deposit required and the amount that needs to be earned based on buyers being able to borrow up to four times their salary.
How can I afford a home as a first-time buyer?
Your first step will be to build up as big a deposit as possible. This allows you to borrow a lower percentage of the overall value of the property and means you can gain a better mortgage rate.
Try to save at least a 10% deposit. While it is possible to put down less in some cases, the compromise is either higher monthly repayments or a longer-term mortgage.
The Government's dedicated Help to Buy schemes are there to help you become a homeowner. For certain property, you can also use the Equity Loan scheme, where the Government will lend you 20% of the purchase price interest-free for the first five years. However, you will only be able to use it on a new-build home valued up to £600,000.
Provided your credit score is in good order and your outgoings to do not limit your ability to repay a mortgage, banks and building societies will lend up to an average of four times your salary. If you are buying as a couple, then combining your incomes could have an impact.
Once you’ve established how big your deposit is and how much you might be able to borrow, you’ll have a good idea of your budget. Then you can start the exciting part of the process and begin house hunting.
Don’t forget that there will be other fees that pop up along the way, such as solicitor and moving costs. The good news is that stamp duty land tax is waived for first-time buyers on the first £300,000 of the purchase.
For more help purchasing your first home, read our first-time buyers guides here.
Full methodology: House prices taken from a subset of Zoopla-partner Hometrack's stock valuation database (one-to-two beds for London and two-to-three bedrooms for rest of UK). Median price calculated as of June 2018. Median advance taken by region (c75% for London, c85% outside of London) from UK Finance. Term of Mortgage: 25 years. Interest rate: 2.00%. Loan to income ratio: 4.0. Earnings required for affordability is greater of those required to satisfy loan-to-income threshold or income required to service the mortgage.