The amount of money people spend on their first home has more than tripled since 1996, according to new figures.

Mortgage comparison website mform.co.uk claimed that the value of first-time buyer mortgages has risen by 173.6 per cent over the last ten years, with the average amount borrowed soaring from £39,811 to £120,500.

This represents an average yearly increase of 10.7 per cent, prompting Francis Ghiloni, marketing and business development director at mform.co.uk, to suggest that if the trend continues, buyers may need to spend even more to secure a property.

"For a first-time buyer to take out a mortgage that is three times their salary today, we estimate that they would need to be earning £40,190, but by 2012, it would need to be a staggering £66,806," he predicted.

Earlier this month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders warned that the number of first-time buyers borrowing had fallen between June 2006 and June 2007, warning that interest rate rises were starting to affect the market.

It was also revealed that 90 per cent of first-time buyers took our fixed-rate mortgages, perhaps in a bid to avoid the impact of any future rate rise.