People buying their first home were aged 27 on average in the north of England and in Yorkshire and Humberside.
Those in the North paid an average deposit of 19%, the figures showed.
First-time buyers were oldest on average in Greater London at 30, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.
The mortgage market is a much tougher place for first time buyers without significant savings than it was a few years ago.
The availability of mortgages has dropped and while some 100% mortgages were available until early 2008, the average deposit was generally between 20% and 25% in 2009, the CML said.
Some 39% of first-time buyers in East Anglia were exempt from paying stamp duty in 2009 because of the concession – the highest proportion.
In Northern Ireland, properties sold under the £175,000 threshold increased from 62% of first-time buyers in 2008 to 86% in 2009.
These home-movers paid the smallest average deposit in the north of England at 29%, with the highest in the South West of England at 45%.
The CML also said the proportion of people who were homeowners was likely to fall in the coming years.
It said many people would instead be tenants, mainly renting in the private sector, owing to a shortage in housing supply, changing consumer preferences and affordability pressures.
