Oxford house prices rising ahead of earnings

House prices in Britain's cities have increased ahead of earnings growth causing homes to be the least affordable since 2007 according to Lloyds Bank.

The average house price within UK cities according to Lloyds has risen from £180,548 in 2013 to its highest ever level of £248,233 in 2018.

In comparison, average city annual earnings over the same period have risen by just 11% to £34,366.

Lloyds identify seven cities where average house prices are now more than 10 times typical earnings - Oxford, Chichester, Winchester, Truro, London, Bath and Cambridge.

In Oxford, average house prices now stand at more than 12-and-a-half times earnings in the city - equivalent to £460,184 per property.

In addition to Oxford, Chichester stands at 11.5 times wages, Winchester at 11.3, Truro 11.1, and Greater London, Bath and Cambridge all at 10.3 times wages.

Despite this the market has seen the number of first-time buyers at a high and homeowners are still attracted to cities across the UK.

Winchester recorded the biggest price rise of any UK city over the past decade with a gain of 93% from £281,224 in 2008 to £541,891 in 2018, compared to the UK cities average of 35%.

Whilst over the last year Oxford property prices have stagnated, its historically strong house price growth combined with high demand for private rental properties means that buy to let investors continue to make strong returns of investment.  Investor who have owned their properties 5 years or more have typically seen annual returns on their investment of c14% when capital growth and rental yields are combined.  And, despite Brexit uncertainty, Oxford has not followed London property into negative price growth, once again proving to be a dependable stable asset.