Housing slump hits celebrity A-listers
25th Jun 2008
- Should Madge 'Get into the Move'? -
Amidst celebrity births, weddings and rumours of divorce, the recent housing slump demonstrates that our beloved A-listers are not that different to the rest of us after all. Madonna has been especially hard hit by the latest property downturn, owning a reported seven properties in the UK, one of which has seen almost half a million pounds wiped off its value alone since the start of the year.
Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's leading property valuation website, which provides FREE, instant value estimates on any UK home, has today revealed the latest drop in market values of some of our favourite celebrities' homes. And whilst Madonna's Ashcombe, Wiltshire, estate is still worth an eye-watering £10,233,900 (down £455,409 since January), some might take comfort in knowing that it's not just us mere mortals feeling the pinch from the credit crunch.
It seems that the Rooney's honeymoon is also well and truly over, with the news that their Cheshire mansion has dropped by almost a quarter of a million pounds (£240,369) in value over the past six months, a fall of 6.1%. However, it's hard to feel too sorry for the newlyweds given that their home is still valued at an impressive £3,730,300.
Whilst the Coles may not be sharing the same wedded bliss as the Rooneys, they can at least be reassured by their recent home purchase in Oxshott, Surrey, which is showing only a modest drop of £8,050 in the value since the beginning of the year, holding its value at £3,491,950. The Lampards, however, haven't been so fortunate with their Blackhills, Surrey home valued at £250,763 less than in January, now standing at £5,236,400 (down 4.57%).
High profile Londoners have also failed to escape the housing slump - waif-like supermodel Kate Moss may be lucky enough to reside in leafy St John's Wood, but with £96,925 being knocked off the value of her property in the last six months, who knows how long it will be before the next move is on the cards.
Hiding out in Wales hasn't helped much either, as Charlotte Church and Gavin Henson are finding out, with the value of their Vale of Glamorgan property falling by £20,712 since January, now valued at £805,920. Whilst this may be modest by some A-list standards, with another baby on the way, hopefully their detached farmhouse has plenty of space to accommodate their rapidly growing family.
Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of Zoopla.co.uk commented:
"It seems the nation's favourite celebrities aren't immune to the recent market woes felt by the rest of us. Providing you know the address, you can look up the estimated value of ANY home on Zoopla.co.uk completely free - your own, your neighbour's or even your favourite celebrities'. With the nation's property obsession and our voyeuristic tendencies, Zoopla.co.uk has now become the fastest growing property website in the UK".
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
Notes to Editor
- May 2008 - Zoopla.co.uk named 'UK's Most Promising Internet Company' by First Tuesday
- June 2008 - Zoopla.co.uk is 'UK's fastest growing property website' (Source: comScore)
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.