What we've learned from nearly 200 years of housing data - and is property really a better investment than a pension?
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Conclusions: how might affordability improve?
Houses are more expensive relative to earnings than they have been for nearly 150 years. Prices are stretched everywhere but London and the south of England stand out. Things look even less affordable for women.
The last time there was a sustained decline in the house price-earnings multiple was the second half of the 19th century. Average house prices fell for more than 50 years thanks to substantial building of houses, many of which were smaller than existed before. At the same time earnings rose.
How likely or even desirable would that be today? The UK’s heavily mortgaged consumers would struggle to cope with 50 years of falling house prices. It would also be political suicide for whoever was deemed responsible. A shift towards the building of smaller houses would also seem unlikely– research has found that
houses are smaller today than at any point since at least the 1930s.
Which leaves us with earnings. Earnings growth has been weak since the financial crisis but has recently picked up strongly, at least in nominal terms (but falling short of inflation). Average earnings in the three months to November 2022 were
6.4% higher than a year earlier. A period of stronger pay growth may represent the best hope of improving affordability – at least on this metric.