UK residential property loses £1bn a day

Zoopla.co.uk, the property valuation website, is suggesting that UK residential properties have lost a combined £300 billion in value since the housing market peaked, in September 2007.

The firm’s database contains details of 26 million dwellings and the estimate of each property’s value is based on a variety of factors including current asking prices, property characteristics and economic climate.

According to Zoopla, the current value of UK homes stands at £5.8 trillion, down from £6.1 trillion since the US sub-prime mortgage crisis turned into a global credit crisis.

Properties in England account for the bulk of the value, at £5.2 trillion, while Scotland and Wales account for £401 billion and £219 billion respectively.

The loss is equivalent to £1 billion per day over the past nine months but should be seen in the context of the strong growth in house prices recorded over recent years.

The Zoopla data puts the combined rise in house prices at £750 billion over the last three years and £1.7 trillion over the past five years.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics published in July of last year showed that 60% of the UK’s wealth was tied up in property, indicating that the wealth of the nation had become highly sensitive to movements in the housing market.

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