London homes becoming more affordable though few may notice

[LONDON] London homes are becoming more affordable but buyers may not have noticed, according to Zoopla.

Average house prices in the capital now stand at 13.1 times average earnings, the lowest in more than four years, according to data compiled by the property-search website. Prices remained flat in the year through July and are likely to remain so unless there's a big fall in demand, the property-search website said in a report.

"While welcome news, the gap between earnings and prices needs to close further in order to make a material difference to would-be purchasers," said Richard Donnell, Zoopla's research director.

London's housing market is slowing after a long boom as the UK's impending divorce from the European Union weighs on sentiment and prices remain out of reach for many potential buyers. Average homes in London cost £483,100 (S$820,400), more than any other UK city and the ratio prices to earnings is still much higher than the 20-year average of 9.9 times in the city.

There are signs other areas are also seeing affordability levels improve. Cambridge and Oxford, where an average home will be 12.2 times and 11.9 times the average wage for those cities respectively, saw a similar improvement from mid-2015, according to the data.

BLOOMBERG