Fife Starter Homes are 35.8% Cheaper Today Than in 1989

<p><strong>Fife Starter Homes are 35.8% Cheaper Today Than in 1989</strong></p> <p>Even though the average value of a Fife first-time buyer property has risen by 312.6% since 1989 to £162,740, the monthly payments Fife first-time buyers must make on their mortgages as a proportion of their take-home pay is 35.8% less today compared to 1989.</p> <p>Today, according to the Nationwide Building Society …</p> <p><strong>the average Fife first-time buyer only needs to pay out 19.4% of their household take-home pay on their mortgage payments, compared to 30.3% in 1989 (</strong><em><strong>i.e. just over a third less</strong></em><strong>).</strong></p> <p>You might say 1989 was 33 years ago, a long time ago and not relevant to today. I would agree.</p> <p>So next, I looked a little closer to home, and in 2007 …</p> <p><strong>the average Fife first-time buyer had to spend 34.7% of their household income on mortgage payments</strong></p> <p><strong>(</strong><em><strong>i.e. 43.9% proportionally cheaper than today</strong></em><strong>).</strong></p> <p>So why do I say all these things?</p> <p>Last month, the Bank of England revealed that its Financial Policy Committee would be removing their mortgage market affordability test on people taking out mortgages in August.</p> <p>The test was introduced in 2014 to ensure the UK didn’t have a repeat of the 2008 Credit Crunch and particularly hit first-time buyers with what they could afford to buy.</p> <p><strong>This rule change means Fife property buyers could soon be able to borrow thousands of pounds more and purchase larger homes.</strong></p> <p>The decision to withdraw the affordability test certainly raised eyebrows in the press, primarily as the Bank of England has raised interest rates five times in the last six months to try and reduce rising inflation. Yet, as stated in the first part of this article, Fife first-time buyers are comfortably paying their mortgages compared to previous years therefore - &nbsp;everything should be ok with this rule change.</p> <p>The