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Mortgages

Nine in 10 homes saw price gains last year

Nick Cheek
Written By:
Nick Cheek
Posted:
Updated:
20/01/2023

The total value of Britain’s housing stock smashed through £10trn last year with 92% of homeowners seeing the value of their property rise by an average £19,000.

Out of all 30 million homes in the UK, 27 million gained in value during 2022, analysis from Zoopla revealed.

Of those, three million rose by £50,000 and some 14 million homes increased in value over the final three months of 2022 in spite of mounting cost-of-living pressures.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also showed a strong market. The average house price was up more than 10% over the 12 months to November, a slower rate of inflation on the previous month but still high.

The ONS put the average UK house price at £295,000 in November 2022, some £28,000 higher than this time last year but a slight drop from last month’s record high of £296,000.

Losers as well as winners

Not all homeowners saw gains, however. Zoopla said 2.3 million homes registered a fall in value last year with an average loss of £7,300. One in four homes that fell in value was in London.

Zoopla’s analysis showed that 8.2 million homes which had gone up in value saw prices come back down in the second half of the year, losing an average £4,400.

Market conditions have weakened even further since and Zoopla’s listings show the number of homes cutting their asking prices has started to tick up.

Zoopla’s executive director, Richard Donnell, said the figures showed just how diverse the housing market is across the UK.

He said: “The profile of gains and losses varies right across the country, knocking any notion of a single market that moves in unison across the country. Housing markets vary by geography and price band.”

He added that the fallout following the pandemic continued to support people’s desire to move home and record-low mortgage rates combined with the chronic lack of homes for sale – some 37% below the five-year average – had supported house price growth up until the summer.

Donnell said: “While the headlines might talk of UK house price falls in 2023, each home will have its own trajectory so speaking to an agent or tracking your home value online are ways households can stay in touch with the value of their largest asset.”