Prospective buyers in Black Country and Staffordshire must spend almost half their wages on mortgage
Prospective homebuyers are having to part with over half of their monthly salary to own a house in the Black Country and Staffordshire, research suggests.
Research carried out by comparison website Go Compare has revealed on average how much buyers would need to earn to afford a home in different areas of the region.
The data was calculated on a 90 per cent mortgage, with a 5.5 per cent interest rate over 25 years - it also assumed that a mortgage would take up one-third of a person's pre-tax income.
Dudley residents earn an average of £35,000 per annum with an average house price of £239,344. New owners would have to fork out £1,262 per month for a two-bed semi, on a wage that pulls in £2,355.92 after tax and National Insurance deductions.
In Walsall the average salary is £34,100 up against house prices of around £212,000 for a two-bed property, costing £1,120 per month in mortgage payments.
In Sandwell the average salary is £34,000 up against house prices of £202,000. Hopeful buyers will need to shell out £1,139 for mortgage payments, on a wage that nets £2,297.58 per month.
According to website Talent, Wolverhampton residents earn an average salary of £32,832 and the average house price is £197,983. Using the same calculations as above on Zoopla's mortgage calculator and based on a three-bed semi-detached home, it would cost its owner £1,031 per month.
After taking away tax and national insurance costs, the area's average salary equates to £26,171, or £2,180 per month.
Perdip Johal, 35, owner of Whitegates Wolverhampton Lettings & Estate Agents, said: "The market is weird at the moment. Sales wise it's really busy because of the five per cent deposit which has really panicked people into getting something quickly.
"All they're going for is one- or two-bed apartments. The larger ones that are over the £180,000 mark is not shifting, but first time buyers are really putting their foot in the door.
"We have just listed six places in Tipton between £90,000 and £105,000. They're all tenanted and could be great for investors but none of them viewed them.
"I think it's the cost of living causing problems for locals, trying to run a three-bed home and save for a mortgage is a lot.
"The best way that home-hunters could be helped is by lowering interest rates, they kill everybody."
The cheapest home available on Zoopla in Wolverhampton is a one-bedroom flat costing £151,000.
In order to buy it though there's an initial deposit of £15,100, and then a £794 per month.
Based on the average salary, a buyer would be left with £1,386, but this of course is based on a single person living alone and before taking out the cost of bills.
Birmingham and Stafford have the highest average wages, at 39,000 and 37,000 respectively, with average house prices of £231,000 in Birmingham and £246,000 in Stafford.
The mortgage cost for a three-bed home in Birmingham - based on the average house price - is £1,247. For the same type of property in Stafford it will be slightly more.
In the Kidderminster area prospective buyers will pay around £194,000 costing around £1,030 per month against an average wage of £30,000.
The average UK salary for full-time workers last year was £34,963. Go Compare said the HM Land Registry data showed prospective buyers would need an income of £53,913 to buy an average property.
London tops the list as the most expensive location to buy a house. The average salary needs to be more than £134,000 and the average house price is a whopping £674,698.