City Homes Least Affordable Since 2008 as Wage Growth Lags

City Homes Least Affordable Since 2008 as Wage Growth Lags

City Homes Least Affordable Since 2008 as Wage Growth Lags. By Lucy Meakin | Bloomberg | 25 February 2017, 04:01 GMT+4 The affordability of a home in U.K. cities is the worst in almost a decade, with the average house price nearly seven times annual earnings, according to Lloyds Bank. Oxford is Britain’s least affordable city, with property values almost 11 times wages; Stirling in Scotland came top with prices 3.7 times income. While the average cost of a home in a British city rose 32 percent in the past four years to 224,926 pounds ($282,000), annual earnings have only increased 7 percent. Greater London was the second-least affordable city. Even as home costs in the capital posted their largest annual drop in almost six years in February, according to website Rightmove Plc. It under performed the rest of the country during 2016 after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union; Furthermore, tax increases on landlords in the early part of the year weighed on demand.