Affordability pressures ease for buyers

Research* indicates that homebuying affordability has slightly improved in relation to income.

In the summer of 2022, the house price to earnings ratio reached a record high of 7.24. Since then, affordability has been slowly easing; in 2024, the average house price to earnings ratio went down to 6.55, compared to 6.62 in 2023.

Over the last year, house price inflation (+3.8%) has been outpaced by wage growth (+5%), which has driven the improvement in affordability. Also, the average cost of a new monthly mortgage has reduced by about 9% due to easing interest rates. As a result, mortgage costs as a percentage of income are now 29% – down from 33% the year prior.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

*Halifax, 2024

23 January, 2025

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