to think it odd that a house price can TRIPLE in two years?

[Suckasponge]

Currently assisting PIL in searching for a house. We've seen one we all like and PIL are prepared to pay very close to the asking price. All good so far. The house however has been on the market for 9 months which is a while in the current market where we live. DH is a surveyor so we are in good hands.

Looking at previous sale prices for the same house, zoopla shows the following:

Bought 2002 for 52k
Bought 2004 for 168.5k
Listed for sale 2015 for 180k (not sold)
Listed for sale 2017 for 175k (not sold)
Listed again end of 2018 ... for current guide price 170k.

The gap between 2002 and 2004 seems incredible! I bought a house in the same area around that time in 2003 and that house could only have been worth 110-120k at most.

I'm a little intrigued and suspicion about why it could have sold for so much back in 2004. Theories between DH and I include:

1. Buyer was not worldly and didn't research fully.
2. Some kind of battle between two buyers at auction.
3. Somebody needing that exact house to be close to relatives etc.
4. A fiddle (tax, inheritance) of some kind.
5. I'm way off the mark and the house was really worth 3x previous price from two years earlier.
6. Renovations took place on a drastic scale. There was an attic conversion done (not sure when) but again this has restricted head height and is only classed as an 'occasional room' so I can't see it adding to the value too much.

Any other reasons we could have overlooked? or are we over thinking this?

My house doubled in 6 years from 1999 to 2005 - now (thanks Rightmove) worth 4 times what I paid for it. Huge huge property boom around 2003 - worked out well for me in SE England, unfortunately friends in NE England stuck in negative equity 15 years later.

I bought a flat for 60k in 2001 and sold it for 85k in 2004. We also own a house that doubled in value between 2009 and 2014.

We did no renovation to either and we aren't particularly canny. We just bought in unpopular areas that were cheap (at the time). I reckon if it was a wreck, then it is indeed possible.

The £52,000 price could be a divorce and the price to buy out the other person from the house.
The 2 previous attempts to sell and its current selling price bring not much more than the 2004 sold price would be what was more concerning. Why has the value not gone up in 15 years ?

Most likely the first purchase was shared ownership or right to buy.

House prices went up 55% on average between those 2 years give or take a month.

That is UK on average. Some areas went up a lot more.

Full house renovation?
Bought the freehold?
School catchment change ?

All of these can add big figures to a house.

Well, a few years before the 2007 crash so there were some silly prices around.

Mine was a council house bought for 6k in 1996.

It's worth half a million.

I bought my first house around that time for £179k and sold it 2/3 years later for £300k, so not unheard of!

It was a very buoyant time in the housing market.

We bought our first house (a tiny two build cottage) for £50k in 2002. We sold in 2004 for £125k.

I bought a repossessed auction house at a bargain price in 2017. Now, two years later, its worth three times as much. But I've literally had to do everything to it, it needed fully gutting etc.

Why has the value not gone up in 15 years ?

Not every where has recovered from the 2008 crash.