DERRY remains the UK’s most affordable city for the third year in a row, according to analysis by Halifax.
The analysis of figures from the Office for National Statistic shows a home in the city will cost just £155,917, working out at 4.7 times average earnings.
Also coming in the top 20 of UK cities was Lisburn, which was ranked 12th with an average house price of £203,386 and an average annual wage of £33,138.
Belfast meanwhile came 13th tied with Durham, Lancaster, Liverpool and Salford.
It did however finish up as the most affordable capital city in the UK, with an average house price of £205,228 and an average annual wage of £33,138.
The analysis also revealed buying a home in a UK city will typically set a buyer back by more than eight times average earnings.
A 10.3% surge in city house prices over the past year now sees the average property costing 8.1 times average earnings.
While the average city house price increased to £287,440, average earnings in these locations increased by only 2.1% annually, to £35,677.
The affordability of city living has worsened.
In 2020, house prices in cities typically had cost around seven and-a-half times wages.
After sitting at 5.6 from 2011 to 2013, the house price-to-earnings ratio in UK cities has increased for eight years in a row.
However, cities still tend to be marginally more affordable than the UK as a whole, which has a house price-to-earnings ratio of 8.5.
Wages in cities are often higher than in rural areas, and during the coronavirus pandemic many city dwellers have relocated to the countryside, helping to push up house prices there.
Winchester was identified as the UK’s least affordable city, replacing previous table-topper Oxford, with homes now 14 times annual earnings for those living and working there.
London was outside the top five least affordable cities for the first time in six years.
Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: “Affordability is significantly better in the north and there are now just two cities – Plymouth and Portsmouth – with better than average affordability in the south.”
Housing affordability improved in seven cities compared with a year earlier: Oxford, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Durham, Salford, Inverness and Glasgow.
Carlisle and Aberdeen are now more affordable than five years ago, with their house price-to-earnings ratios easing.
Inverness is the only city found to be more affordable than 10 years ago. An average home there costs 5.6 times average earnings, down from 6.2 in 2011, due to wage growth there outstripping house price growth.
Here are the top 20 most affordable cities in 2021, according to Halifax, with the price-to-earnings ratio followed by the average house price and average annual earnings:
1. Derry, 4.7, £155,917, £33,138
=2. Carlisle, North, 4.8, £163,232, £34,087
=2. Bradford, Yorkshire and the Humber, 4.8, £164,410, £34,219
=4. Stirling, Scotland, 5.4, £208,927, £38,744
=4. Aberdeen, Scotland, 5.4, £205,199, £38,016
=4. Glasgow, Scotland, 5.4, £196,625, £36,205
7. Perth, Scotland, 5.5, £203,229, £36,700
=8. Inverness, Scotland, 5.6, £191,840, £34,373
=8. Hull, Yorkshire and the Humber, 5.6, £156,424, £27,730
10. Dundee, Scotland, 5.8, £181,150, £31,344
11. Sunderland, North, 6.0, £179,567, £29,745
12. Lisburn, Northern Ireland, 6.1, £203,386, £33,138
=13. Salford, North West, 6.2, £211,903, £34,444
=13. Durham, North, 6.2, £196,274, £31,762
=13. Liverpool, North West, 6.2, £215,741, £34,911
=13. Belfast, Northern Ireland, 6.2, £205,228, £33,138
=13. Lancaster, North West, 6.2, £217,392, £35,004
18. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North, 6.3, £229,434, £36,212
19. Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, 6.5, £200,161, £30,698
20. Hereford, West Midlands, 6.6, £316,929, £48,048
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