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The number of loans to first-time buyers hit a two-year high in December 2009, driven by a rush to buy properties in the £125,000 - £175,000 bracket before the year-end stamp duty concession expired, according to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The CML has also published new analysis showing how affordability, especially for first-time buyers, is complicated by the effect of low interest rates when capital repayments are taken into account.

December saw 24,900 loans to first-time buyers, the highest number since November 2007. At £2.9 billion, first-time buyer loans rose 26% from November both by volume and value.

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments you can ever undertake.

But for many, the property slump has resulted in dreams of owning their own home slipping out of sight. However, don't despair, the path to owning your first home can be made much easier with the right advice and information at your fingertips.

Home affordability for potential first-time buyers (FTBs) has improved significantly.

In 2009, the average price paid by an FTB was affordable for someone on average earnings in nearly four in ten (39%) of local authority districts, according to this year's Halifax First-Time Buyer Annual Review.

Dunfermline Building Society has dropped its fixed-rate and tracker mortgage prices by up to 0.80% in a move designed to stimulate the first-time buyer market in the remaining weeks before Stamp Duty exemption expires.

The Dunfermline has dropped its two-year tracker mortgage from 3.59% to 2.79% and its two-year fixed-rate mortgage from 4.29% to 3.79% for house purchases - and is urging potential buyers to act fast to beat the Stamp Duty Holiday deadline.

Two-thirds of first-time buyers believe that a lack of sufficient mortgage deposit is preventing them from owning their own home, despite Government efforts to encourage them into the housing market with shared equity schemes which require little or no deposit.

A survey of 3000 potential first-time buyers by Miller Homes found that 28% of buyers still believe that they will need to save for at least five years before finally getting the keys to their own home.

First-time buyers are starting to come back into the property market, according to new research..

A survey of Equifax customers who have purchased a copy of their credit report found that 70% of the first-time buyers who responded felt more confident about stepping onto the property ladder as a result of the drop in property prices.

The introduction of a number of new products for the first-time buyer sector is also likely to have had an effect, with 75% saying that they had put a hold on their plans in the last year because of the lack of mortgage products on the market.

More is needed to be done to assist first-time buyers to take their first step on the property ladder, according to a group of solicitor estate agents.

The Edinburgh and Lothians Property Group (ELPG) believes that, although house prices are rising and mortgage lending is on the up in Scotland, first-time buyers are still being hindered.

One third of first-time buyers escaped paying stamp duty in September as a result of the Government’s temporary £175,000 nil-rate threshold, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

There were 6200 first-time buyer loans for properties between the old threshold of £125,000 and the temporary threshold of £175,000, representing 32% of the 19,700 loans to first-time buyers in September. In addition, 7800 first-time buyers (40%) bought properties valued below the £125,000 original threshold.

Estate agents across the UK have reported a resurgence in demand from first-time buyers.

A straw poll of UK Winkworth agents revealed that the average percentage of first-time buyer inquiries fell by 55.8% to 19% in 2008.

With housing affordability at its best level for six years, 70 per cent of parents with children over the age of 18, believe now is the right time for their children to get on the housing ladder.

According to research from Lloyds TSB, one in four of these parents (23 per cent) plans to use their savings to help their children buy their first home and, on average, they have a total of £41,000 saved in order to provide financial assistance to all of their children.