First-time house buyers find getting on the first rung of the property ladder stressful but affordable, according to a survey commissioned by EBS.
The number of people describing the process of buying their first home as the most stressful thing they had done increased 5 per cent this year to 64 per cent of those questioned in the survey.
More than half (51 per cent) of respondents said the size of their mortgage really restricted them in the lifestyle they could have.
But 63 per cent of those questioned said they didn't have difficulty raising the deposit for their house, and a third said they will buy their next property within five years, almost double 2003's figure of 17 per cent.
Less than a third (29 per cent) said they understood the mortgage process very well, a drop of 7 per cent on 2004, the research found.
Finding the right property was the most stressful part of the process, followed by moving into the house and taking out a mortgage, the survey found.
Dara Deering, head of EBS Mortgages, said: "Despite the stress of the process, first time buyers are expressing their confidence in the housing market with a significant increase in the number of people who say they plan to purchase their next property within the next five years and a high percentage who said it wasn't difficult to raise the deposit for their property."
PA