While you were sleeping...
29th Apr 2008
UK homeowners see average property values drop by £45 per night.
Amidst the recent unsettling news about the housing market, new figures released today highlight that UK homes have lost an average of £44.39 in val ue each night, or £310.73 per week this year, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk. The picture is even bleaker over the last 30 days, with an average daily drop of £55.40, confirming the increased pace of the recent house price decline.
The biggest losses are being felt in London, where homeowners have been waking up each morning to an average loss of £133.58, seeing nearly £1,000 wiped off the value of their homes each week.
Zoopla.co.uk, which provides users with free, instant value estimates on any UK home, compiled the results following analysis of its data since the beginning of 2008. Zoopla.co.uk value estimates are updated daily to provide users with the most recent data on any home.
Homeowners in Surrey have faced the second biggest drop, with a daily loss of £96.41, closely followed by residents in Berkshire who have been losing £95.22 daily. The results showed that those in Hertfordshire, Wiltshire and Cambridgeshire could sleep a little easier with modest daily increases of £5.25, £5.35 and £9.12 respectively.
Of all property types, detached houses have taken the biggest hit, suffering an average daily loss of £71.68 over the last 30 days, whilst flats in England have managed a marginal daily gain of £2.84 since the beginning of 2008 after having declined towards the end of 2007.
Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of Zoopla.co.uk commented:
"There has been no shortage of recent headlines about the state of the UK housing market, but homeowners are often left wondering how it affects them personally, in terms of their local area and more specifically, their own home. As our estimates are updated daily, Zoopla.co.uk allows anyone interested in the property market to track what's happening to the value of their home as often as they like and see what all the headlines mean for them. Now, more than ever, homeowners are looking to monitor the value of their most important asset regularly much in the same way as they do their share portfolio or bank account.
The ten hardest hit areas in UK in terms of daily depreciation since the start of 2008 have been:
- London - £133.58
- Surrey - £96.41
- Isle of Wight - £96.12
- Berkshire - £95.22
- Oxfordshire - £90.10
- Devon - £84.25
- Middlesex - £81.95
- Essex - £76.88
- Hampshire - £72.71
- Sussex - £62.92
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
What is Zoopla?
Zoopla is a revolutionary online publishing service and community website providing information and tools to give users an advantage in the UK residential property market. Our aim is to create a transparent marketplace and we believe that information should be free and easily accessible to everyone.
How did it start? In early 2007, following the success of bringing DVD rental to the internet with LOVEFiLM.com, Zoopla founders Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain realised that the internet had yet to deliver meaningful change to the UK property market. It became clear that consumers lacked essential tools and information to help them understand home values, view similar properties, learn about past transactions...
...and then we thought:
- Why not offer users a tool to get access to FREE, instant value estimates on their homes or anyone else's?
- Why not let buyers make offers on ANY home, instead of just the 4 per cent of homes currently on the market 'for sale'?
- Why not let owners find out if there is any market interest in their homes without having to list them 'for sale'?
- Why not let agents and sellers market their 'for sale' listings FREE by providing them with easy-to-use tools?
- Why not let anyone ask/answer questions and share their knowledge about any homes or neighbourhoods?
- Why not put current value estimates, sold prices, homes for sale and local information all together in one place?
So, we have started by providing FREE value estimates and sold prices on homes, allowing sellers and agents to list homes for sale FREE, and letting all users edit information and upload photos. We have also launched some unique features, like TemptMe™ and AskMe™, which allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else.
By making TemptMe™ offers, buyers can try to entice owners to consider selling. Owners also benefit from this unique feature by being able to see what level of interest there is on their home without actually having to list it for sale.
The AskMe™ community feature allows anyone to find out more about any home or neighbourhood that they are interested in by posting questions for those in the know to answer.
Zoopla value estimates are calculated using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that we have developed by analysing millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. The algorithm works by comparing relationships between home prices, economic trends and property characteristics in given geographic areas. Our estimates are constantly refined by our team of analysts, using the most recent data available and a variety of statistical methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.
Zoopla Limited is a privately held company, backed by leading international venture capital firm Atlas Venture.