THE cost of an average first-time-buyer home will be nearly £450,000 by the start of next year if prices rise as quickly in the second six months of 2007 as they did in the first half of this year.

That is the conclusion of house market expert Peter Seymour, of the Mortgage Shop Plus, in an article published in the JEP’s Home Life supplement today. Mr Seymour said that the States Statistics Unit issued figures last month which showed that house prices rose by eight per cent in the first half of the year. ‘If that is sustained at the same level, a typical first-time-buyer house purchased in January for £385,000 will start the new year with a price label of £446,600,’ he said. Yesterday it was revealed that a first-time-buyer home in St Ouen was on the market for £450,000 and that others had been sold for as much as £480,000. That prompted Housing Minister Terry Le Main to call for more sites to be rezoned for first-time-buyer homes.