Time to take the plunge for first-time buyers?

Indications that house price growth is slowing at last under the impetus of successive base rate rises could create a window of opportunity for first time buyers to secure an affordable home, a spokesperson for property advice site FirstRungNow.com has said.

In the wake of Nationwide statistics showing that the annual rate of house price growth in August fell to 9.6 per cent from 9.9 per cent in July, the site's managing director Helen Adams remarked: "If property prices hold, it is a time when first time buyers will be keen to buy their first home."

Although house prices gained 0.6 per cent over August, the relative slow-down in the pace of growth could lure first-time buyers into investing, and for many, that "it is likely that the house will go up in value again" if they delay, Ms Adams warned.

The introduction of home information packs (Hips), meanwhile, would add slightly to the cost of a home, she added, in spite of the fact that the packs will contain less "useful information" than when they were first mooted.

Homes with three or more bedrooms will require a Hip from September 10th.

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