Jill Insley
Guardian
November 15, 2011
Falling house prices have trapped more than 350,000 first-time buyers in properties bought at the peak of the market, a bank has warned.
Young people buying their first home have seen an average of £11,000 wiped off the value of their properties since 2007, according to a report by HSBC.
Some have even found themselves in negative equity, where their property is worth less than the mortgage they took out to buy it. Others are unable to make the move to a second, bigger property because of the huge cost of moving home.
HSBC said first-time buyers in Northern Ireland had been worst hit by price falls, with those who first bought in 2007 facing a 42% decrease in the value of their home. This would mean negative equity of £45,000.
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