As a demographic cohort, the so-called Baby Boomer generation comes in for quite a lot of flack from the Millennials. Generally charged with standing in the way of property availability through their refusal to sell it or even bequeath it – to the younger generations, there are legion internet blogs that moan about how unfair it all is. Mortgages, the Millennials say, were so much easier to get and cheaper all those years ago. But is that actually the case?

Property prices have spiralled almost uncontrollably, rising by an astounding 29% over the last decade alone, and show no signs of abating, but that rise is countered by the fact that monthly mortgage payments are substantially cheaper than a few years ago because interest rates have been historically low, falling from an average of 5.37% in 2008 to its current 1.68%.  That makes a substantial difference to monthly repayments, particularly since income burden has dropped in real terms with mortgage repayments now representing 31% of a homeowner’s expense, compared to 43% of income ten years ago.

There also isn’t really any fear of instability to cast a shadow over the housing market either; While factors such as Brexit might cause a bit of uncertainty – the Halifax reports that property prices fell by 2.9% between December 2018 and January 2019 – it is nothing to the chaos that eschewed in the financial crash of 2008 and other notable hiccups in the property world in the last thirty years.

But what of wages? Over the same time period; how have they grown over the last couple of decades?  Unfortunately, the average income after taxes and benefits has actually fallen slightly in real terms, from £35,100 in 2008/09 to £34,500 in 2016/17. This is calculated by adding income to cash benefits and then subtracting direct tax (e.g. income and council tax) and indirect taxes (e.g. VAT) for households where at least one person earns income from employment or self-employment.  And, in addition, while some jobs attract huge salaries, the norm is for far more rational wages, with many on minimum wage.  Added to this, getting on to the property ladder generally takes a much larger initial deposit, coming in as much as £90,000 on a London property and not much shy in other cities.

The bottom line is that while monthly mortgage repayments have increased by 88% from an average of £373 in 1998 to £700 in 2018, this increase has been offset by the rise in average earnings. Over the same period, average monthly earnings have increased by 78% from £1,261 to £2,249.

So actually, with a deposit paid, once a person or couple have a mortgage, in real terms, they are likely to be better off than the baby boomer generation and with many mortgage deals being available on ever longer terms, it is now a much more favourable time for someone taking out and paying a mortgage.

Moan no more, young Millennials – you’ve never had it so good!