Hamptons International has launched a quarterly Ability to Buy Index, which covers not only traditional house price and mortgage-payment-to-income data but also how much buyers pay for household essentials, which may determine their ability to buy'.
So the measure includes food, transport, utilities and council tax and, for families, child-care too.
The result of the first issue of the index is that ability to buy is now significantly better than at the start of the financial crisis, but much of this is down to low mortgage rates. After paying for essentials many families are around £60 per month better off now than in 2008.
However, once the house price rises of the past six months are factored in, ability to buy is deteriorating slightly again, Hamptons says.
One of the most interesting aspects of the index is that while we are in, in the industry, aware of rising house prices they are - for many buyers - overshadowed by rising bills for essentials.
So the Hamptons index shows that over the last five years the post-tax income of a full time working couple has increased by just nine per cent, but rising costs mean that spending on essentials such as food, transport, childcare and utilities has increased by 28 per cent.
Today, households with children have left - after essential spending - about six per cent less than in 2008.
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