100-fold increase on property value in 50 years

Posted: 25 Oct 2007 10:35:37 GMT

Property prices have increased 100-fold in the last 50 years, according to new figures from equity release provider Home&Capital.

Property prices have increased 100-fold in the last 50 years, according to new figures from equity release provider Home&Capital.

Research by the firm found that a home which was worth £2,000 in 1957 is now likely to sell for up to £200,000 – good news for those who have held onto the same property for the last five decades.

"An average UK property worth around £200,0001 today cost less than £2,000 in 1957, so an elderly homeowner who has lived in the same house for their whole life - and there are quite a few of them - would be sitting on £198,000 of equity," said Nigel Hare-Scott, sales director of Home & Capital.

"Of course, most people have moved house more than once over that time, and trading up helps you build up even more equity.

He added that although back in the 50s, prime minister Harold Macmillan insisted that Brits had "never had it so good" it is likely that he would now be "astonished" by how far the economy had progressed.

© Houseladder Ltd