65% would not admit to the owner that they had researched their home’s value, and only 19% said it is OK to simply ask someone what they paid for their home.
Six in 10 (59%) Brits admit to finding out what people they know, including friends, family, and colleagues, paid for their home, according to research released by Zoopla.
However, 65% would not admit to the owner that they had researched their home’s value, and only 19% said it is OK to simply ask someone what they paid for their home.
Brits were found to be most likely to look up the sale price or value of the home of a neighbour (36%), a friend (34%) or a family member (29%), but 11% have looked up how much a colleague paid for their home, and 3% have even checked out the price of their boss’ house.
Nearly three in 10 (28%) say they made presumptions about a colleague’s salary after seeing how much their home was worth.
Only 20% say they have ever asked anyone in person what they paid for their home; 37% said this would be ‘rude’, while 28% said it is ‘awkward’.
Nearly one in 10 (8%) have checked out the value of the home of a partner, ex-partner or someone they were dating.
Nearly a third (32%) said they have continued to date someone they would not have otherwise after viewing their home online, with the figure rising to 46% for those aged 35 to 44.
A further 50% said it ‘encouraged’ them to keep seeing someone – rising to 63% for men, while a quarter (24%) say they have stopped seeing someone after seeing the value of their home, again rising to 30% for men.
The research found that 11% admitted to feeling jealous after looking up the value of someone’s property, 10% say they respected someone more, and 9% even said they liked someone more after looking up their home online.
Nearly a quarter (23%) said they looked at the value to get a better idea of what their own home is worth, while 18% were simply curious to see what someone’s home looked like on the inside.
Tom Parker, consumer spokesperson at Zoopla, said: “We’ve long been known as a property obsessed nation and our latest research highlights just how interested many Brits are in finding out the value of their neighbours’, friends’ and even bosses’ homes.
"Agents have a key role to play in educating consumers on the accurate value of a property and ensuring they’re not simply comparing their property to others, but also considering how more hidden factors like EPC ratings, property layout and internal renovations can impact the value of a home.”
