First-time buyer numbers soared to their highest levels in the first half of this year since 2007, a report has found.

Improvements to the housing market made it easier to get on the property ladder, but a growing proportion found themselves having to pay stamp duty on top of raising funds for a deposit.

That is according to Halifax, after the property market revival led to an upturn in house prices.

Halifax estimates there were 120,000 first-time buyers in the first six months of 2013, showing an increase of almost one fifth year-on-year and marking the biggest number since there were 181,500 buyers from this sector in the first half of 2007.

More than half (51%) of this year's first-time buyers bought homes which were over the £125,000 stamp duty threshold.

In London, where prices have risen particularly strongly, 97% of people taking their first step on the housing ladder had to pay stamp duty this year, while the South East had the second biggest proportion at 85%.

Northern Ireland, which has seen sharp falls to property prices, had the lowest proportion of first-time buyers paying stamp duty, at 13%, followed by the North of England at 22%. In both Wales and Scotland, 30% of first-time buyers faced stamp duty charges.

Londoners also need to find the biggest deposit typically at £60,747, while average deposits in the North are smallest at £13,526. First-time buyer deposits across the country stand at around £26,859.

Halifax said the average house price paid by a first-time buyer was 4.26 times their annual earnings, well above an average of 3.23 over the last 30 years. Buyers in this sector are 30 years old on average, up from 29 in 2011.

Once first-time buyers have made the jump on to the property ladder, mortgage repayments have become more affordable.

Halifax said the proportion of disposable earnings they typically need to put towards mortgage payments has dropped to 27%, way below a peak of 50% in autumn 2007 and sits under the long-term average of 36%.

Mortgage rates have been slashed to some of their lowest- ever levels following the launch of the Government's Funding for Lending scheme last August, which gives lenders access to cheap finance to help borrowers.

Concerns have been raised around the Help to Buy scheme, which will be in action next year and will underwrite £130 billion of low-deposit mortgage lending with state guarantees.

Some analysts have warned the scheme must not lead to people over-stretching themselves.

This research follows a study from housing charity Shelter last week, which found parents are contributing £17,000 on average to help their children onto the property ladder.

The study used figures from Halifax's own database as well as a range of other statistics.