Household finances are at breaking point - here's what that means for property prices

Britain's property prices are skyrocketing but household earnings and savings can't keep up.

Couple this with the amount of debt Britons are taking on and it looks like the UK's property market is heading for a crash.

Why? - Because getting a mortgage is possibly the most debt you'll take on in one go and rates can't stay low forever. Eventually they'll rise and so will monthly payments.

If household wages fail to keep pace as payments rise, they'll be stretched further and further.

The average price to buy a house in Britain now stands at £291,504, according to the Office for National Statistics. Meanwhile, the average London property price is at a huge £551,00o.

Analysts say that the fundamental supply and demand balanced is so skewed that the only direction houses will go is up.

Research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, estate agent Savills, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and bank analysts has said prices will continue to rise over the next five years. Even a study published by Santander showed average house prices across the country will more than double to around £500,000 over the next 15 years.

Technically, this should be correct. There is way too many people looking to buy a home and way too little to go around.

But there are three key charts from the latest note from Citi FX's strategy note entitled "UK's increasing dependence and increasing vulnerability" which demonstrate how household finances can be considered being at breaking point.

And if rates do rise soon then more people will fall behind with payments which will trigger a real-estate fire sale and increasing defaults.