The average house price within UK cities has risen from £180,548 in 2013 to its highest ever level of £248,233 in 2018, according to the latest figures released by Lloyds Bank.
This was highlighted by the house price to average annual earnings ratio rising from 5.8 times salary in 2013 to 7.2 in 2018.
In comparison, average city annual earnings over the same period have risen by just 11 per cent to £34,366.
Oxford least affordable
Oxford was the least affordable city with an average house price standing at £460,184, 12 times average annual earnings in the city, at £36,430.
There were seven cities with average house prices more than 10 times the average annual earnings. In addition to Oxford, these are Chichester, Winchester, Truro, Greater London, Bath and Cambridge.
Meanwhile, Londonderry and Stirling were the UK’s most affordable. Along with Londonderry, two other cities in Northern Ireland, Newry and Belfast, are placed third and sixth respectively within the 10 most affordable cities.
Bradford is named as the most affordable city in England and Swansea, home to nearly 25,000 students, is the most affordable city in Wales.
The remainder of the 10 most affordable cities were Lancaster, Aberdeen, Perth, Hereford and Sunderland.
The London average figure disguises considerable variations across the capital with central boroughs significantly less affordable than the Greater London average.
Winchester highest rising
Winchester recorded the biggest price rise of any UK city over the past decade with a gain of 93 per cent from £281,224 in 2008 to £541,891 in 2018, compared to the UK cities average of 35 per cent.
Chichester is second with a rise of 76 per cent, followed by Greater London, at 69 per cent, Cambridge at 66 per cent, St Albans at 64 per cent, and Oxford at 59 per cent.
Nine of the 10 top performers since 2008 are in southern England with the exceptions being Lichfield in the West Midlands and Cardiff in Wales, both 54 per cent.
Andrew Mason, mortgage products director at Lloyds Bank, said buying a home in UK cities remains challenging, as average house prices are outpacing wage growth.
He added: “However, the market has seen the number of first-time buyers at a high and home owners are still attracted to cities across the UK, in spite of rising costs.
“Over the past five years, more than half of northern cities have made the UK top 10 in house price growth, whereas over a longer period, southern cities dominate.”
