Idle curiosity

misterjingles

This isn't a moneysaving tip or request - just a general pondering of sorts....

Does anyone know when during the last 30 years houses have been the most affordable.

Using the measure of ..

average house price = X times the average salary

obviously the lower the number - the more affordable the house

poppy10_2

Lowest ratio was average house price 3.09 x average earnings - that was in 1995.

We reached a peak of 5.86 in late 2007 but are now back down to 4.35

http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media1/research/halifax_hpi.asp

JayneG

[QUOTE/]average house price = X times the average salary

obviously the lower the number - the more affordable the house[/QUOTE]


Not necessarily, got to consider the effect of higher/lower interest rates.

A better measure, imo, would be proportion of household income spent on mortgage payments.

opinions4u

JayneG wrote: »

Not necessarily, got to consider the effect of higher/lower interest rates.

That impacts on the measure Poppy posted, so has been taken in to account.

The 'affordability' section in the link above will help though.

The second tab gives what you propose though.

A better measure, imo, would be proportion of household income spent on mortgage payments.

Not what the OP asked for though. While I agree that it's a relevant measure, it doesn't take in to account size of deposit, cash purchase etc.