All Asset Classes Indexed to 1990=100 — Nominal Growth Comparison
House Prices
Gold (GBP/oz)
FTSE 100
Average Wage
M2 Money Supply
Nominal GDP
CPI Inflation (cumulative)
🚨 The key story: Since 1990, house prices have risen 393%, gold 1,390%, FTSE 580% — while wages have only risen 107% in real terms and CPI has risen ~120%. Assets that can be used as collateral for borrowing or bought with newly-created money have far outpaced wages and the real economy. This is the core driver of the UK's wealth inequality crisis.
House Price to Annual Earnings Ratio — 1990 to 2026
⚠️ In 1990 the average house cost 3.6× the average annual salary. By 2022 this had reached 8.3×. In 2026 it stands at ~7.7×. A first-time buyer today needs a household income of ~£60,000+ to get a mortgage on an average UK property — excluding most single earners and young people entirely.
M2 Money Supply vs House Prices — The Monetary Connection
📋 The correlation between M2 growth and house price inflation is striking. Major accelerations in money supply — post-2008 QE and post-COVID — were followed by house price surges. This is consistent with the "asset inflation" theory: newly created money flows into fixed-supply assets (houses, gold) rather than into CPI-measured goods.
Growth Summary — 1990 to 2026 (Nominal)
+393%
UK House Prices
£58k → £285k avg
£58k → £285k avg
+1,390%
Gold (GBP)
£200 → £2,980/oz est.
£200 → £2,980/oz est.
+580%
FTSE 100
2,170 → 8,700 pts
2,170 → 8,700 pts
+107%
Median Wage
£14k → £39k
£14k → £39k
+256%
M2 Money Supply
£900bn → £3.2tn
£900bn → £3.2tn
+220%
Nominal GDP
£900bn → £2.97tn
£900bn → £2.97tn
+120%
CPI Inflation
Cumulative 1990–2026
Cumulative 1990–2026
7.7×
House Price/Wage
Ratio (2026 est.)
Ratio (2026 est.)
⚠️ What this means: The UK's monetary expansion has primarily benefited those who already own assets — particularly housing. A worker whose wages grew by 107% since 1990 is not much better off in real terms (wages barely beat inflation), but anyone who owned a house in 1990 has seen their wealth increase by 393% in nominal terms. This structural divergence is the mathematical cause of generational wealth inequality in the UK.
Real Wage Growth vs Inflation — Are Workers Actually Better Off?
Real Median Wage (CPI-adjusted, 2008=100)
CPI Inflation (%)
🚨 The lost decade: Real median wages in April 2025 were still only marginally above their 2008 level — after 17 years. The 2022–23 inflation shock wiped out several years of gains in months. A typical worker today earns only about 2% more in real terms than they did in 2008, while house prices have risen ~40% in real terms over the same period.
Gold vs M2 — The Ultimate Monetary Barometer
Gold Price (USD/oz, left)
UK M2 Money Supply (£bn, right)
📋 Gold has no yield, no earnings, no utility beyond jewellery and industrial use — yet it has risen 1,390% in GBP terms since 1990. The primary driver is monetary expansion: as central banks create more money, each unit of currency buys less of a fixed-supply asset like gold. The correlation between long-term M2 growth and gold prices is one of the most consistent relationships in macroeconomics.