Home sellers making £88,000 profit despite slowdown in market
THE average home-seller made a profit of £88,000 last year, analysis has revealed.
The proportion of sellers in England and Wales making a profit was 91 per cent – up from 90 per cent in 2017.
However, the average gain of £88,470 was slightly less than the £90,580 profit made in 2017, Hamptons International estate agents found.
In every region, except for London and the South-east, the sellers – who had owned their homes for an average nine years – were more likely to sell for a profit last year.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said: “House prices have grown considerably over the nine-year period that the average seller has owned their home.
“As a result, the proportion of sellers making a profit on their property continues to rise.
“Many sellers will have added value by renovating, extending or developing, but the bulk of gains have come from houseprice growth.”
But she added: “With more sellers in the North but fewer sellers in London making a profit in 2018, the average gain fell since 2017.”
This was because sellers in the North do not tend to make gains as large as those in the South, she said.
However, despite a recent slowdown in house price growth, she added “most owners are still sitting on plenty of growth from previous years”.
Researchers also found sellers in the East of England were more likely than those in London to make a profit last year – 98 per cent compared to 97 per cent.
The company analysed Land Registry data, which included house sale prices.
Staff also looked at the areas where sellers were more likely to make large gains last year.
In London, sellers in Kensington and Chelsea made an average profit of £992,340, with 93 per cent making a gain. Across London, the average profit was £237,190, which is about two and a half times the average across England and Wales.
In Wales, sellers in the Vale of Glamorgan made the biggest gains, at £70,520 on average.
In Northern England, Trafford, Harrogate and North Tyneside were areas where sellers were most likely to have made a profit – with £89,080 being the average.
Other seller hotspots last year included South Buckinghamshire, with £260,990 average profit.
In Bath and North East Somerset it was £138,360. The average profit made by house sellers in other regions last year were also revealed.
In the East Midlands the gain was £56,520; East of England, £111,920; North-east, £25,190; North-west, £44,690; South-east, £123,380; Southwest, £81,170; Wales, £41,600; West Midlands, £58,450 and in Yorkshire and the Humber it was £43,010.
NEW SALES SETBACK FOR HIGH STREET
TESCO, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer are set to post disappointing Christmas sales figures this week in another blow to Britain’s beleaguered High Street, retail analysts have warned.
The supermarkets are likely to have lost the festive shopping battle to discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl and online undercutters. M&S could announce its worst food figures for a decade as it felt pressure not just from rival supermarkets but also from discount stores introducing new premium ranges set to appeal to affluent customers.
The figures, out on Thursday, follow a torrid year for retailers, which started with the collapse of Toys R Us and culminated in the demise of HMV.