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Original poster

How accurate are Zoopla's 'estmated' house prices?

27 replies

WhichMattress · 08/12/2018 17:52

Hello!

Second question for the day.

Just wondered if anyone has any input on this? I searched Zoopla earlier and examined the "'estimated" property values for a number of properties including my own. In my case, Zoopla stated that it had about "70% confidence" in its estimate and invited me to "refine" it. I added some more details about the property, and at the end of the "refining" Zoopla gave me a very similar estimate - hence I am dubious of the "70% confidence" claim. Does anyone have any insight into how Zoopla comes up with these figures? Most probably they use recent "sold" prices but if the property is in a poor state how do they factor this in?

Cheers!

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 08/12/2018 17:58

Just looked at my own road, if a property has been sold more recently it then has a higher value than a house sold 15 years ago - even if the former house has an extra bedroom.

House on our road sold in 5 days but zooplankton have the house value at £50j less than it was marketed

DexyMidnight · 08/12/2018 19:29

It's not good at all and when it's right it's luck / coincidence.

It will literally do a purely mathematical approximation based on last sold price and the average for a house of that type (detached / semi / flat) in that postcode.

It won't take into account garden size, off-street parking, decorative condition, etc.

My house is in a street of identical victorian semis and through some clever subdivision of rooms has three doubles and a small single. It's therefore got 4 bedrooms but is precisely the same plot as every other house on the street, but zoopla over values it for the extra bedroom (which could be achieved in any house on the street for £5k)

Does that make sense?

BertramKibbler · 08/12/2018 19:32

My house is worth considerably less than every other house in my cul de sac, despite 3 of the house being identical to mine, because we bought it recently so the value has been adjusted. Otherwise their estimates are Bs

WWYDhelpplease · 09/12/2018 08:31

They are not accurate in the slightest.

namechangedtoday15 · 09/12/2018 10:30

It's wildly inaccurate. Doesn't take account of anything other than price and a generic multiplier.

So for example, no recognition of condition, improvements, in our case a big extension, just a multiple of what we bought it for 10 years ago. Even on conservative figures it's wrong by about £150k!!!

fuzzywuzzy · 09/12/2018 10:36

It’s not accurate at all.

It predicted my house was worth £20k less than I sold it for.
And predicts my current house is worth less than I’ve bought it for altho other houses same area are worth more.

I’m not bothered just find it a bit odd and wouldn’t rely on it.

FrankIncensed · 09/12/2018 10:43

It got the property I sold right within 5% but I think it was partly luck and partly as we'd only been there a few years. It's wildly out on the house we have just bought (30% too high) and wildly out on any other property I've looked at. I think it's useful for looking at general trends in your specific area though.

HeffalumpsDaughter · 09/12/2018 10:45

I’ve just had a look at my dm’s house and it’s estimated value is about 40% lower than its actual value. I think because it’s the only detached house on a street of flats. Maybe if the houses on the street are all similar it might be more accurate?

NothingOnTellyAgain · 09/12/2018 10:53

I don't trust them at all.

I was worried when I had a look at my flat and it said it had been sold on x date at y price. Which was in the middle of me owning it. So naturally I got a bit worried something weird had happened. I don't know what but you know how it is, seeing in black and white that it has changed hands was a shock!

I got in touch and said your site says this it's wrong where did you get that info and that said yeah whatever we'll change it...

My conclusion is that their info is widely inaccurate and probably often plain bollocks.

HTH

NotCitrus · 09/12/2018 11:00

I was surprised that when we last remortgaged, they just looked at Google Street View and accepted the Zoopla suggestion, but then we're on a long street of similar houses where a couple sell each year, so the estimates are reasonably accurate. And the amount if mortgage we wanted was a small enough % that they didn't care that much.

Cherries101 · 09/12/2018 11:04

It’s inaccurate and as others said only goes by recently sold prices.

Original poster
WhichMattress · 09/12/2018 11:27

Hmmm, some interesting responses, thank you everyone. I guess it makes some sense that the estimates are more accurate if the house (or a similar home in the same street) was recently sold. What surprised me is that some respondents said that Zoopla had OVER valued their property - I'd expect it be the other way around if there is recent data on sales. Anyway, my own home appears to have lost almost £40k in value in the last 6 months, according to Zoopla! There don't appear to be other recent sales within the immediate area so I guess they just use a generic multiplier, as one respondent suggested. Quite interesting though. Also, @NotCitrus's comment is alarming - so mortgage companies appear to rely on these estimates? This must suggest they think the figures ARE accurate?!

OP posts:
Original poster
WhichMattress · 09/12/2018 11:29

Small mistake in earlier comment:

"I'd expect it be the other way around if there is recent data on sales" should read "I'd expect it be the other way around if there is NO recent data on sales"

OP posts:
NothingOnTellyAgain · 09/12/2018 11:47

Just checked, zoopla is now saying the flat was last sold in 2015.

It wasn;t.

NothingOnTellyAgain · 09/12/2018 11:48

They have a sale price and reckon the info comes from the land registry.

I assume they mean remortgaging.

That's the only thing I can think.

Does that change the owner with teh land registry though? I'm sure it doesn't.

It's a load of shit.

MovingNextYearHopefully · 09/12/2018 13:55

Zoopla guesstimates are very easily manipulated. If you click to refine their valuation you can add any number of improvements you may or may not of carried out in your home. You can input garden & house size, add period features etc. It's easy to make the value jump up by tens of thousands of pounds to make your house appear to be worth more money. Its best to take Zoopla guesstimates with a huge bucket if salt.

Echobelly · 09/12/2018 13:57

There's a massive timelag on it, so it's not very accurate where the market is fast moving.

oldfatandtired1 · 09/12/2018 14:00

In my case 250 thousand out! Zoopla valuation of 300k and house sold for 550k. We bought the house for 80k in 1993 and sold in 2015. The house we sold was not the house we bought though - we added a large sitting/dining room and a large en-suite master bedroom.

LtGreggs · 09/12/2018 14:01

Not good at all I'd say. A few months ago I saw Zoopla valued ours at more than £100k over what my rough idea was - I got all hopeful that all our money worries were over as we could just sell our massively valuable house. Couple of local estate agents came to look, all gave estimates £125 lower than Zoopla. This is on a £500k property - it's not just a small margin of error.

Wideeyedandlegless · 09/12/2018 14:20

I have looked on Zoopla and been quite conservative when I describe my home.

Their valuation was £195,950. I thought, well I know i'd not get that.

An estate agent valued it at 159,950 because it doesn't have a wet room etc. Personally I think they're both wrong but maybe that's just me!

SelpMeGod · 09/12/2018 15:04

It doesn't take into account any work done on the property. I have had a kitchen extension and converted a double garage into a playroom and store.

The back garden was completely rel-andscaped following the extension, we've had a new boiler, new double glazing, sofits and facias, new bathroom etc.

None of this is reflected in the price. Just based on what we paid for it and the local perceived increase.

The local primary school went from requires improvement to outstanding which obviously has an effect on the price too.

MovingNextYearHopefully · 10/12/2018 00:52

You can amend the valuation by adding the improvements yourself SelpMeGod. Otherwise you will just get the basic calculation. Hence those who know how it works can rightly & often wrongly change their valuation.

m0therofdragons · 10/12/2018 01:11

@BertramKibbler our house is the same. We live in a cul de sac but because we only moved in a year ago somehow 2 smaller 4 bed houses with smaller gardens and no study are worth 10k more than our home. I've concluded it's not very accurate!

StatisticallyChallenged · 10/12/2018 08:56

They're also useless if the last sale was in any way unusual- we bought from family with gifted deposit so sale price is lower than valuation. Seen similar with people who've bought from council etc.

MrsGollach · 10/12/2018 11:24

They are certainly not accurate. Think about it, how could they be? Surveyors come in to a house and inspect and produce a report. Even they sometimes get it wrong, but they have far more likelihood of being correct than fllipping Zoopla who don't have a clue.

Anything correctly "valued" by Zoopla is pure luck.

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