25% increase to asking price since last sold… very little change to property

[Whatdafudge]

Just wondering if a 25% price increase is a lot / normal since last sold price in early 2019.

The current owners/sellers have knocked through a small wall (doesn’t look to be load bearing) so you can access dining room from kitchen. They have also painted/decorated internal rooms. This is all the work they have done to the property.

Most of the work to the property seems to have been done by the owners before the previous owners.

I know prices have risen but 25% increase in 5 years. Or maybe this is expected / the reality now.

Certainly feasible in that timeframe, but obviously lots more to take in to account.

We've done nothing to ours, purchased for 112k in 2018 (v v cheap area of the NE), and identical houses with no improvements are selling for 150k now, so nearly 35% increase. For nothing.

Not that we will really benefit from it, as the 180k house we would have aimed for next is now an unaffordable 250k.

Just sold my house in Yorkshire with a 36% increase since buying in 2018. Literally nothing done other than painting/decorating to my taste and like @SecondUsername4me I've not been able to "step up" into the next bracket; only been able to afford the new home due to it being a massive fixer-upper.

Depends if you or anyone else wants to pay it

Where we live is on a fast train line to London, prices are insane. We are getting people who go in to offices once a week. House prices have gone up probably about 35%. Go a few miles up the road and they are much cheaper because even though it is not that far it’s not so great for commuters, many windy and narrow lanes. Much muttering about Londoners locally pushing up house prices and we are quite a distance from London not in commuter belt normally but WFH has obviously changed this.

What matters is how it compares with other properties available now.

Plus you go back to 2018/2019, prices then in many parts of Yorkshire hadn't even come back up to pre 2007 crash levels, so it's not that the price is too high now, more that the previous price could have been comparatively low, but in more recent years there's been some 'catching up' partly as demand has moved from other parts of the country where property is less affordable.

That's not really how it work though. The increase is not just about the improvements made to the house.

You have to look at how house prices in the area have increased in general and see how similar properties are being marketed at now.

That will give you a rough idea of whether the owners are completely unreasonable or not.

Inflation since 2019 has been 22.43%, so probably less of an increase than I would have expected.

Source Bank of England

Thanks all. To answer some questions.
West Yorkshire.
I can afford the property and I do like it a lot but doesn’t mean I want to overpay (but seems to be that it’s a normal increase anyway so I’m not)
There aren’t any other properties that are similar or on the street that have recently sold / has the sold information data so can’t compare in that sense.
I wasn’t sure if the high interest rates might have an effect on asking price compared to what a seller might actually get.
I do recognise that prices increase, but just wanted to know if 25% in 5 years is the norm - how most will afford to buy is beyond me. I’m a first time buyer. I guess to those who already own it doesn’t feel so wild. think I’m just worried I buy whilst it’s super high and prices fall then I’m stuck for years. X

At the end of the day just compare to other properties on the market today, not what it sold for before.

The current market seems to be one of slow falls or price stagnation in most areas. Mainstream forecasts are for prices to probably continue sliding in 2024 but then to pick up again.

I think 2024 should be a decent year to buy as long as you can get a reasonable mortgage deal. Prices may not yet be at their lowest but they’re definitely not at their highest either. It’s almost impossible to judge it exactly right anyway so all you can really hope to do is not buy at the very top of the market or sell at the bottom.

It’s common to lose money on property if you only stay there for a year or two. But if you stay at a property for longer you generally find you make money on it. Not as much as it seems if you take inflation into account but still enough that you don’t regret the purchase. However, there’s no guarantees with any investment, if you see your house as an investment. It’s probably better just to look on it as a place to live and if you’re lucky you’ll make some money too.

As others say dont expect bargain basement prices for a house you want to buy and top dollar for your own but I can see you are a FTB.

Also be aware that lots of people will big up their area, beause after all THEY brought there so consequently it must be good. Zoopla are complete rubbish for potential house prices unless there is plenty of very similar houses nearby i.e an estate.

The norm isnt anything meaningful really. My DH house was a complete nightmare. He had lived there for years and wrecked it. Did nothing to it. Stuffed with clobber, carpets truly grim.

HOWEVER it was in a fab location in London with an outstanding school at the end of the road. It was begging for a complete upgrade even though it was a semi, largish garden as well (with fencing blown over on both sides!). EA was struggling to price it because of the state it was in but we cleared it (dont ask - we had to get professionals in), ripped out the carpets and then put it on the market a few years ago.

We were indundated with offers and letters asking people to choose them. He brought it in the 60's and it was going to cost £££££ to update but it was honestly the location.

There is no norm, it depends on the market. When we bought our first house, the people we bought it off had lost 30% in about 2 years. It then stagnated for about 5 years then doubled in two years and went up some more in the next few years, so the price had tripled in about 5 years. Then it stagnated for another decade then started to increase again.

The other thing to remember is that price increases/decreases happen at different times across the country. So what's happening in West Yorkshire isn't reflective of what's happening in London, due to different market pressures.

Ha, l was just going to say they were crazy in Sheffield!

Most popular place to move to in lockdown due to it proximity to Peak District.

That makes sense then. The place where property prices rose the least between 2019-23 is Greater London at 14%.

Probably largely because people wanted to move out of that area in lockdown.

Also just to answer, I’m looking at the property as a home, not really as an investment I hope grows whilst I live there but surely this doesn’t matter either way, as the more I pay at the outset the more I have to pay (including interest) over the lifetime of my mortgage. Surely I can still want the property as a home but wish not to overpay (again I realise the price doesn’t seem to be high for the current market so in this instance maybe I wouldn’t be)

Yes absolutely. I put it badly because what I meant was it's best to see a house purchase primarily as a home because there's never a guarantee it will be a good investment.

But absolutely it's important not to overpay and also to consider whether a property will be one other people will like too when you come to sell because you want to do everything in your power to safeguard the money you are spending on a home.

Not sure if it's been mentioned but it's possible the current owners negotiated a chunk off when they bought it & have since painted/removed a wall in the time that house prices have risen

Leasehold Realistically how much can they up the maintenance

We purchased our house in September of 2019 for 670,000 and we sold it in January 2022 for 875,000 with multiple offers. We didn't do too much work, added drawers under the stairs and did the garden, but that's more than 30% increase in price, it happens. Of course we were selling during COVID and had a large garden with a sea view, but either way, the market dictates the value.

I bought mine in 2018 for 175k and it's on the market for 245 at the moment. Not sure I will get that but as there is nothing for me to buy in the village I'm keeping it at that for time being.Midlands.

It isn`t feasible with interest rates back where they were 20 years ago, not remotely achievable IMO.

https://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/property-statistics/uk-interest-rate-history-graph/

Anyway I guess an increase like that doesn’t feel too bad if you already own, managed to pay down for a couple of years with incredibly low interest rates, and your current house has gone up at a similar rate too… but for those just getting on the market feels like we can’t catch a break. Super high prices that seemingly aren’t effected by the high interest rates. But that’s a whole other post. Thanks for all the comments xx

Asking prices don`t mean a thing, it is sold prices, money actually in the bank, that count.

Anyway ignore this.. I’m coming across very woe is me! Ha!