Has your home increased in value by £50k during the pandemic? A third of homeowners are seeing asking values rise £48 a day
- A third of homeowners see the asking value of their home increase £50k
- Wales has seen the greatest increase in property asking values, up 22%
- The North West and the South West have both seen values rise 20%
- In London, the increase in prices is 7%, less than half the national average
A third of homeowners saw the asking values of their homes rise more than £50,000 during the pandemic, the equivalent of £48 a day, according to new research.
It means the total value of British homes surged by £1.3trillion from February 2020 to £10trillion in April this year as strong demand and a lack of supply continues to push house prices higher.
However, some 800,000 homeowners saw a fall in the value of their homes by more than 5 per cent, the findings by Zoopla revealed.
A third of homeowners saw the asking values of their homes rise more than £50,000 during the pandemic, says Zoopla
| Value of housing April 2022 (£bn) | Value of housing pre-pandemic Feb-2020 | % change 2020-2022 | Average property value (Apr 22) | |
| London | 2,398 | 2,248 | 6.6% | 516,000 |
| South East | 1,879 | 1,633 | 15.1% | 394,000 |
| Eastern | 1,109 | 964 | 15.0% | 350,000 |
| South West | 965 | 803 | 20.3% | 320,000 |
| North West | 765 | 636 | 20.2% | 192,000 |
| West Midlands | 671 | 573 | 17.3% | 225,000 |
| East Midlands | 569 | 476 | 19.5% | 235,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 547 | 460 | 19.0% | 186,000 |
| Scotland | 493 | 435 | 13.3% | 164,000 |
| Wales | 335 | 274 | 22.1% | 201,000 |
| North East | 213 | 182 | 16.8% | 144,000 |
| Northern Ireland | 143 | 125 | 14.8% | 158,000 |
| UK | 10,088 | 8,809 | 14.5% | 266,000 |
| Source: Zoopla |
The property website used its popular valuation estimates found on its website.
It monitors the rise and fall of asking prices of advertised properties and claimed that 32 per cent of its listings have grown in value by more than £50,000.
Home buyers are witnessing property asking prices soaring in many parts of the country
| Price change – Feb 2020 to April 2022 | Number of homes (millions) | % homes |
|---|---|---|
| Unchanged or lower | 1.7 | 6% |
| Higher by up to £25k | 8.8 | 30% |
| Higher – £25k to £50k | 9.4 | 32% |
| Higher – £50k to £75k | 4.6 | 16% |
| Higher – £75k to £100k | 2 | 7% |
| Higher – over £100k | 2.9 | 10% |
| Source: Zoopla |
Wales has seen the greatest increase in asking values, up 22 per cent, followed by the North West and South West, both up 20 per cent.
It is in contrast to London, where the increase is 7 per cent, less than half the national average.
Affordability issues and the impact of the pandemic and working from home dented the demand for homes, especially in high value inner areas of London and flats.
The greatest value of homes are located in London and the South East – where prices tend to be higher – accounting for 23.5 per cent of all homes in Britain.
But weaker growth means the share of housing wealth has fallen from 26 per cent before the pandemic struck.
The South West region contains 1.9 million homes that grew by more than £50,000, the most for any area.
An additional 9.4 million homes grew by between £25,000 and £50,000.
Not everyone has seen gains during this period with the value of 1.6 million homes – the equivalent of 5.7 per cent – currently the same or lower than pre-pandemic.
Half of these homes – the equivalent of 800,000 – have seen a value decline of 5 per cent or more with most concentrated in inner London where the impact of the pandemic has hit travel, working patterns and demand for homes.
A total of 28 per cent of the homes declining by more than 5 per cent were in London – of which half were in the central London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Islington, Hammersmith & Fulham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, where the economy has been hit from the historic decline in oil prices accounted for a further 6 per cent of homes declining in value.
Richard Donnell, of Zoopla, said: ‘The boom in demand for homes created by the pandemic has pushed the value of homes higher. The gains in the last year are the largest since 2006 but they are far from uniform.
‘Every homeowner experiences the impact of the market through the changing value of their own property.
‘Rising home values unlock new opportunities for homeowners considering their next move. An exodus of older workers from the labour market during the pandemic, together with more working from home, is driving more households to look further afield for their next home to get greater value for money.’
He added: ‘Not everyone has seen home values increase. Affordability is holding back prices in London and southern England and our analysis reveals the centre of gravity of the housing market is shifting northwards.
‘The largest gains in value are being seen in more affordable areas where there is further room for price growth, even with modest increases in mortgage rates.’
