Homeownership has been pushed further out of reach for first-time buyers, despite government figures showing most renters could afford mortgage payments.

New figures show that house prices dropped by 1.1% - more than the average for the South East – in Oxford in April.

However, the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area increase by 4.8% over the last year.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the main reason behind rising house prices across the UK during the pandemic.

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Homeownership has been pushed further out of reach for first-time buyers by larger deposit requirements and constraints on accessing mortgages.

This despite government figures showing that 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

The average Oxford house price in April was £459,055, Land Registry figures show – a 1.1% decrease on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South East, where prices decreased by 0.3%.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Oxford rose by £21,000.

First-time buyers in Oxford spent an average of £403,000 on their property; £16,000 more than a year ago, and £39,000 more than in April 2017.

Additionally, buyers paid 19.9% more than the average price in the South east (£383,000) in April for a property in Oxford.

 

Read more from this author

This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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