Buying a first home is no longer a pleasure but instead is one of life's most stressful experiences, it has been claimed.

The comments from the first-time buyer advisory firm Firstrung come as the average cost of a starter property has soared over recent years.

According to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the average first-time buyer is now taking out a loan of around £108,000 in order to finance the purchase of a property, equivalent to 4.7 times the average salary.

Paul Holmes, chief executive of Firstrung, said: "I think it has never been as expensive in the history of mankind as it is now to get on the housing ladder. And I think it is affecting pleasure and it's a shock.

"It saddens me to have to say it because four, five years ago, it was very pleasurable helping first-time buyers."

Such increasing prices and stress levels have led to more Britons looking abroad to buy their first property, according to recent research carried out by Investors Provident.

However, many of the younger people buying overseas property are doing so as a means of investment rather than in order to settle abroad.