Covid sends house prices to new high
SOARING property prices since the start of Covid have made it more difficult than ever to buy a home.
Figures out today show average prices up 16.8% to £279,431 since 2020 while incomes rose just 2.7%.
A typical home now costs 7.1 times average annual earnings, the highest-ever level. The prepandemic figure was 6.2.
The highest ratio is London at 9.7. The lowest is the North East at 4.6
Mortgage lender Halifax, which published the figures, said that despite the increase the market has remained buoyant.
The surge has been blamed on various factors including low interest rates and families now working from home seeking bigger properties.