House prices showed a slight increase in April for Moneynet-user homeowners. Values edged up from £205,518 in March to a healthy £208,854.
The survey – which reflects the values of property owners who enjoy salaries well above the national average – points to a return to gentle house price inflation in the month preceding the General Election.
“April’s modest rise in values is more encouraging than the most recent Halifax house price survey.Many of our users are inLondon andtheSouth-east and other surveys also suggest that prices in the capital are recovering after several months of barely any movement,” said Moneynet chief executive Richard Brown.
Average property values for visitors to the Moneynet site – in common with many of those who regularly use the internet for financial information and transactions – are higher than for those on the national average wage.
But Richard Brown said that the survey should be seen as a key tool for charting house price trends for the UK’s higher earners.
“Moneynet can also provide a detailed breakdown of the different categories of mortgage lending – whatever the combinations – favoured by consumers on a month by month basis.”
MONEYNET MORTGAGE DATA FOR APRIL 2005 AT A GLANCE
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AVERAGE PROPERTY VALUES
• Overall average property value was £208,854
• The average value of a property for a First Time Buyer (FTB) was £194,961
• Users looking to re-mortgage valued their property at an average of £251,919
AVERAGE MORTGAGE AMOUNTS
• Overall average mortgage amount required was £138,468, a 66% loan to value (LTV)
• FTBs were looking for an average mortgage amount of £133,527, a 69% LTV
• Those users seeking to re-mortgage their property required an average mortgage amount of £154,905, a 62% LTV
SALARIES
• The overall average salary of the main income earner was £39,448
• An average FTB's salary was £37,001
• Those users looking to re-mortgage had a main income of £43,792
• For two income households, the second salary averaged out at £22,626 for FTBs; £23,820 for users looking to re-mortgage.
