英语文摘:Britain's property more affordable for first-time buyers: report

LONDON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Stagnant British housing market has made property at the most affordable level in 10 years, bringing more homes within reach of first-time buyers, British mortgage lender Halifax said on Saturday.

Halifax, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, said in a research report that first-time buyers would find homes affordable in 54 percent of local districts in the country, the highest proportion since 2002 when 64 percent of districts were within buyers' reach. The figure was 40 percent a year ago, it said.

Halifax compared average earnings in different local authority areas to house prices, assuming that buyers could stretch to a price equivalent to four times their income.

However, the gap of house price between the north and the south has widened, with London being the only region where there were no affordable areas found for would-be buyers on average earning.

Halifax found that 91 percent of the affordable districts are in the north, and homes were more expensive in the south of England.

The latest Halifax house price index survey showed that house prices in Britain were broadly stable in the first half of the year. Average property prices stood at 162,417 pounds (253,184 U.S. dollars) in June, the survey said.