The research, conducted by mortgage broker Clifton Private Finance, calculated how long residents would need to save to afford the most expensive properties in 80 UK areas.
With the cost of living skyrocketing, buying a high-end home remains out of reach for the average UK resident – with an enormous disconnect between average local wages and luxury property prices across the country.
But the new data study shows some UK towns offer a more attainable, although still daunting, path to luxury home ownership.
Analysis hailed the Black Country town of West Bromwich as the area with the most affordable luxury pads – where prospective home buyers would need the shortest time to buy a top-end property: a relatively short 56 years based on an average annual salary of £30,483.
A typical high-end property in West Bromwich costs £475,914, nearly 100 times less than in London (at the other end of the spectrum) where high-end homes averaging £49 million would require more than 3,400 years of saving on average pay of £51,662.
Sam Hodgson, finance expert at Clifton Private Finance, said: “There’s a perception that moving outside of London makes high-end property much more attainable, and to some extent, that’s true. But even in the most ‘affordable’ locations, buyers would still need to commit decades of income to afford premium homes.
“West Bromwich residents needing to save for 56 years may look modest compared to London’s 3,400 years, but it is still an entire working life.
“And in most cases, we’re talking about saving for 70, 80, even 90 years. That’s a clear sign that luxury property remains well beyond reach for the average household, regardless of geography.”
The Rightmove property website listed just 11 homes in the West Bromwich area with a price tag of £450,000-plus at the time of writing, with the most expensive large home advertised as inviting offers over £650,000.
Meanwhile, the study ranked Wolverhampton as the sixth most affordable place to buy a luxury property – jointly with Dundee.
The findings revealed Wolverhampton residents would need to save for 88 years to afford a high-end property priced at £822,035 on an average annual salary of £33,309.