Average house price at 7.6 times annual salary, official figures show

Median price paid for a home leapt 259% between 1997 and 2016 while earnings rose only 68%, say ONS affordability data

Rising house prices now stand at an average 7.6 times the average annual salary, more than double the figure for 20 years ago, according to official figures.

However, the new headline figure disguises dramatic regional variations. In the affluent London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, house prices are typically 38.5 times greater than annual earnings, but, 330 miles to the north-west, prices in Copeland, Cumbria, which includes the port of Whitehaven, are typically 2.8 times the average salary.

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