The correlation between the average wage and the average house price has grown further apart.
According to personal finance website moneynet.co.uk, the average wage earner in London would need a deposit of more than £80,000 to afford the average-priced house.
However, despite the national average house price rising by over 64% in the last five years in comparison to weekly wages going up by 26%, moneynet claims mortgages are now more affordable.
This is mainly due to falling interest rates which, despite a high of 7.5% in this five-year period, are now at 4%.
During this period, house prices have exploded with Greater London seeing an increase of 91%.
House prices in Scotland have seen an increase of 12.5% over the same period, although they have been tipped to rise sharply in the future by the Bank of Scotland (Mortgage Solutions, 21 October 2002 issue, page 5).