MANCHESTER has become a top property hotspot for first time buyers – with Sale one of the leading areas.

Research by Countrywide Estate Agents has shown that the average age of a first time buyer in Manchester is 32, the same age as the average first time buyer nationally.

Statistics reveal that one in three houses sold in Manchester was bought by a first time buyer who put down an average deposit of £26,000, an increase of 13 per cent on 2012.

Those purchasing in Sale and Chorlton put down the largest deposits, an average of £44,000.

Sale, Chorlton and even Didsbury are all property hotspots and first time buyers pay an average of £157,000 for a property, 34 per cent more than the price paid by the average first time buyer in Manchester.

Last year, house prices increased in 40 out of 42 Manchester postcodes with growth being strongest in central and southern areas where prices increased 6.1 per cent, a big step up in the number of buyers.

At the end of last year, growth meant that house prices are 18 per cent below their peak compared with 22 per cent below at the end of 2012.

In terms of the new build market, planning permission was granted only in special circumstances in parts of Cheshire, meaning that house building slowed substantially while continuing apace in Manchester.

Manchester is building twice as many new homes as Cheshire by 2008 compared with a more even keel in the 1980s, so more first time buyers are heading towards the inner city.