Mortgage Deposits at an average of £31.500 for first time buyers

The typical deposit stood at £12,700 at the start of 2007, but rose to £31,500 by the second half of 2010, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has said. The average age of a first-time buyer now stands at 37.

The figures were released as housing and lending bodies faced government calls to help first-time buyers.

And the misery is likely to continue. There was no "magic bullet" that would fix the mortgage market and remove the problems faced by first-time buyers, the head of a lending trade body said.

Michael Coogan, the CML's director-general, said that while mortgage insurance, shared ownership and product innovation could all potentially play a part in improving the mortgage market, there was no "magic bullet" that would normalise it.

Instead, he said returning to a normal market was likely to be a gradual process, as confidence in funding markets and lending decisions was gradually restored.

Total mortgage advances during 2011 were expected to be just £135 billion, less than half the £363 billion advanced in 2007 before the full impact of the credit crunch was felt.