The Sunday Times: Measuring UK House Prices in Gold
4/5/2014
LONDON, 4 May 2014 – Data compiled by BullionVault features today in a personal investing column from Ian Cowie at The Sunday Times – the UK's best-selling quality Sunday paper.
"What we might call the bullion-to-bricks-and-mortar ratio – or B2BAM – suggests that contrary to pundits' pessimistic consensus, [UK] property is trading at nearly a third below its long-term average," says Cowie, formerly personal finance editor at The Times' competitor, The Telegraph, for more than two decades.
While average UK homes now cost 5 times average salaries, very high by historic standards, the typical UK house costs the equivalent of 230 ounces of gold at current prices explains The Sunday Times. That compares with the 25-year average of 340 ounces, and suggests housing is relatively undervalued at present.
"Cynics might suspect the B2BAM ratio is calculated by someone keen to promote the affordability of housing," Cowie goes on. "Not a bit of it. The numbers come from BullionVault."
Times' subscribers can read the full story here:
