Rightmove Data Shows Wide Variation in First-Time Buyer Asking Prices Across Britain, With 18% Rises in Bridlington and St Helens but 0.7%

Rightmove reported that average asking prices for typical first-time buyer homes rose 18% year-on-year in Bridlington, Yorkshire and the Humber, and in St Helens, North West. The property website recorded the same 18% increase in both locations, where the average asking prices reached £167,321 and £133,106 respectively.

Falkirk in Scotland posted the next-highest rise at 17%, lifting its average asking price to £118,311.

Hartlepool in the North East and Dewsbury in Yorkshire and the Humber each recorded 12% increases, to £104,276 and £130,133. Greenock and Inverness in Scotland followed with 11% gains, reaching £93,998 and £167,009. Great Yarmouth in the East of England and Blackburn in the North West each rose 9%, to £149,315 and £116,735, while Airdrie in Scotland increased 8% to £106,472.

Rightmove defined first-time buyer homes as properties with a maximum of two bedrooms, including both houses and flats. The study examined locations that recorded at least 20 new listings and at least 20 sales agreed in May and excluded London because its higher prices can distort national comparisons. 7% from a year earlier.

The fastest-growing locations typically had average prices below £170,000. St Albans in Hertfordshire remained the most expensive area outside London at £401,352, up 2%. Epsom in the South East followed at £374,376 with no annual change, and Oxford reached £367,503 after a 5% rise.

Middlesbrough recorded the lowest average asking price at £90,929, down 1%. Rightmove noted that a first-time buyer could typically purchase four homes there for the price of one in St Albans. Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “Affordability continues to shape where first-time buyers are looking, and we’re seeing the strongest price growth in areas where homes remain within reach for more people.