House prices are up 22% annually on average

Twenty years ago, it was 31 and now it is 33, according to research carried out by the Halifax bank.

The cost of houses going to first-time buyers has risen three-fold in the past 20 years.

So people have to wait longer to get on the property ladder.

The delay also means new homeowners can afford to put down larger deposits to secure their home.

Housing crash

The average deposit put down by a first-time buyer is 20%, up from 16% 20 years ago.

Remortgaging is more common now, and accounts for more than half of the mortgage market, the survey claimed.

And many more people are changing lenders, some every few years.

Last month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said many people were opting to rent instead of buy.

Homeowners in London and the South East fear a potential house price crash and are selling up in order to rent.

But rents continue to fall, for the fourth quarter in a row at the end of 2002, the institution said.

The market outlook is gloomiest in the capital with surveyors reporting slight price falls.

But across the country, the market is still buoyant.

The Land Registry, which is thought to have the most comprehensive register of the housing market, calculated that the average house price in England and Wales rose 22% during the last three months of 2002.