House price falls predicted as first-time buyers stay away House price falls predicted as first-time buyers stay away | House prices | The Guardian
How many times do British people buy houses in their life?
In the title, “t” has gone somewhere. I am now looking for it.
First-time buyers usually refers to people who are are finally ready in their life to buy a home. Maybe someone who is 30 years old, just got married, and has good enough job to afford a mortgage. People who don’t have a good job, or are still young and single might not buy a home, they might just choose to rent an apartment.
So this sentence is saying that the prices of homes have fallen because people who would usually be buying their first home this year decided not to for whatever reason.
Thank you for your comment, Reinsender.
I suppose that there is a concept “housing ladder.” I wonder how many steps there are on the housing ladder on average.
The Brits used to use their houses to move up the economic and social ladder: making money from the sale of one’s house in order to then buy a bigger one which would then be sold again in a few years’ time, etc, etc.
Quite a few of the people I know have moved up at least four times. These days it is a bit more difficult to sell one’s home. If, however, you have the money you can get a real bargain now!
“These days, with all the news of banking collapses and mortgage foreclosures, men and women, English or American, might be glad to have somewhere to call home, even if they have to obey the law when inside it.”
“An Englishman’s home is his castle.” http://bit.ly/9XW7or
Thank you for your answer, Sannet.
“Quite a few of the people I know have moved up at least four times.”
Do they tend to live in urbanized areas or not?
Interestingly enough, once people sell a very expensive home in town, they often opt for living in one of the more leafy suburbs or they buy something slightly smaller in town and a second home in a rural area. But not everyone lives like that! (I have a very small place in a small place.)
“The writer George Orwell (then known as Eric Blair) spent time as a teenager and in his thirties in Southwold, living at his parents’ home.” Southwold - Wikipedia
I suppose the town was famous as a retirement community.