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

 LONDON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Stagnant¹ British housing market has made property at the most affordable² 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 Banking³ 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 earnings⁴ 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.

1 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。