Londonderry has held its position as the UK’s most affordable city for the third year in a row, with a house price-to-earnings ratio of 4.7.
The study, conducted by Halifax, placed Londonderry at the top of the 2021 standings, just ahead of northern English cities Carlisle and Bradford, which both have a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.8.
Lisburn, meanwhile, places 12th in the standings and Belfast in joint 13th.
In Londonderry, the average price of a house in 2021 is £155,917, while the average salary is £33,138, which led to its continued position at the top of Halifax's most affordable city table.
Winchester, in the southern English county of Hampshire, meanwhile, is the least affordable city according to Halifax with a price-to-earnings ratio of 14, placing it ahead of previous table-topper Oxford (12.4).
The average price of a house in Winchester in 2021 is £630,432 with the average salary £45,059.
London was outside the top five least affordable cities for the first time in six years.
From the study's overall findings, Halifax reported that buying a home in an average UK city will typically set a buyer back by more than eight times average earnings.
A 10.3 per cent surge in city house prices over the past year in the UK now sees the average property costing 8.1 times average earnings, Halifax found.
And, while the average city house price increased to £287,440, average earnings in these locations increased by only 2.1 per cent annually to £35,677.
It means the affordability of city living has worsened on average in the UK as, in 2020, house prices in cities had typically cost around seven and-a-half times wages.
After sitting at 5.6 from 2011 to 2013, the house price-to-earnings ratio in UK cities has increased for eight years in a row.
However, cities still tend to be marginally more affordable than the UK as a whole, which has a house price-to-earnings ratio of 8.5.
Wages in cities are often higher than in rural areas and, during the coronavirus pandemic, many city dwellers have relocated to the countryside, helping to push up house prices there.
Housing affordability, meanwhile, improved in seven cities - Oxford, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Durham, Salford, Inverness and Glasgow - compared with a year earlier.
Carlisle and Aberdeen are also now more affordable than five years ago, with their house price-to-earnings ratios easing.
Inverness is the only city found to be more affordable than 10 years ago. An average home there costs 5.6 times average earnings, down from 6.2 in 2011, due to wage growth there outstripping house price growth.
Here are the top 20 most affordable cities in 2021, according to Halifax, with the price-to-earnings ratio followed by the average house price and average annual earnings (cities are in England where no countries are given):
1. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 4.7, £155,917, £33,138
=2. Carlisle, North, 4.8, £163,232, £34,087
=2. Bradford, Yorkshire and the Humber, 4.8, £164,410, £34,219
=4. Stirling, Scotland, 5.4, £208,927, £38,744
=4. Aberdeen, Scotland, 5.4, £205,199, £38,016
=4. Glasgow, Scotland, 5.4, £196,625, £36,205
7. Perth, Scotland, 5.5, £203,229, £36,700
=8. Inverness, Scotland, 5.6, £191,840, £34,373
=8. Hull, Yorkshire and the Humber, 5.6, £156,424, £27,730
10. Dundee, Scotland, 5.8, £181,150, £31,344
11. Sunderland, North, 6.0, £179,567, £29,745
12. Lisburn, Northern Ireland, 6.1, £203,386, £33,138
=13. Salford, North West, 6.2, £211,903, £34,444
=13. Durham, North, 6.2, £196,274, £31,762
=13. Liverpool, North West, 6.2, £215,741, £34,911
=13. Belfast, Northern Ireland, 6.2, £205,228, £33,138
=13. Lancaster, North West, 6.2, £217,392, £35,004
18. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North, 6.3, £229,434, £36,212
19. Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, 6.5, £200,161, £30,698
20. Hereford, West Midlands, 6.6, £316,929, £48,048
Here are the top 20 least affordable cities in 2021, according to Halifax, with the price-to-earnings ratio followed by the average house price and average annual earnings (cities are in England where no countries are given):
1. Winchester, South East, 14.0, £630,432, £45,059
2. Oxford, South East, 12.4, £486,928, £39,220
=3. Truro, South West, 12.1, £356,788, £29,558
=3. Bath, South West, 12.1, £476,470, £39,508
5. Chichester, South East, 10.6, £446,899, £37,352
6. Cambridge, East Anglia, 11.9, £482,300, £40,492
7. Brighton and Hove, South East, 11.6, £449,243, £38,737
8. London, South East, 11.0, £564,695, £51,257
=9. St Albans, South East, 10.2, £604,423, £59,391
=9. Chelmsford, South East, 10.2, £424,690, £41,781
11. Salisbury, South West, 10.0, £392,355, £39,154
12. Exeter, South West, 9.9, £323,554, £32,635
13. Leicester, East Midlands, 9.7, £279,080, £28,725
14. Norwich, East Anglia, 9.4, £306,946, £32,632
15. Bristol, South West, 9.3, £346,902, £37,357
=16. Southampton, South East, 9.0, £310,435, £34,429
=16. Canterbury, South East, 9.0, £365,168, £40,565
=16. Gloucester, South West, 9.0, £287,600, £31,987
19. Worcester, West Midlands, 8.8, £303,132, £34,389
20. Cardiff, Wales, 8.7, £276,851, £31,946
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