House prices for properties bought by first-time buyers jumped above £200,000 last year, while those in London were more than £400,000, reports Halifax.

As a result, deposit sizes have more than doubled over the last decade, says Sky News: "In 2006, the average first-time buyer deposit across the UK was £15,168, but now it is £32,321. In London, a first-time buyer's deposit is over £100,000 on average, assuming they can also cover moving costs and stamp duty."

Despite this, the number of first-time buyers completing a house purchase was at its highest level since the financial crisis, with 335,750 house purchases, higher than any year since the 359,900 transactions in 2007.

It is also the "third consecutive year that the number has topped 300,000" and "75 per cent higher than a low point in 2009", Sky adds. However, the total is still 17 per cent below a pre-crisis peak of 402,800 in 2006.

These seemingly contradictory trends are reconciled by the fact first-time buyers are getting older and borrowing over longer terms, says The Guardian.

It adds: "Halifax said that in 2016, about 28 per cent of all first-time buyers with a mortgage opted for a 30- to 35-year term – up sharply from 11 per cent in 2006.

At the same time, while once new buyers were typically in their early or mid-20s, "the average age of a first-time buyer is now 30" – and as high as 34 in some areas such as Slough in Berkshire.

Many of these buyers "will still be burdened with home loan debt in their 60s and 70s", the paper says.

www.theweek.co.uk