"Forget the ghosts and the ghouls, the one thing that is sure to scare the life out of the nation’s homeowners this Halloween is finding out the value of their home may have plummeted by thousands of pounds"
- Colby Short - GetAgent
The latest research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, analysed house price data from the Land Registry looking at how the market has performed since last Halloween and the results are enough to make the blood of homeowners in some areas of the nation run cold.
The research shows that since last October, the average UK house price has cooled ever so slightly, falling by -0.2%, a drop of just £452.
However, when breaking the market down at the local authority level, GetAgent found that no less than 62% of local authority areas have seen a reduction in house prices.
The scariest of the lot has been across the City of London where house prices have plummeted by £83,569. Nearby Kensington and Chelsea have also seen a frightening fall with £41,536 shaved off the average value of a home since last Halloween.
The Hastings property market has been haunted to the greatest extent outside of London with a drop of £32,884, while Surrey Heath (-£32,706) and Islington (-£30,153) complete the top five worst-hit areas since last Halloween.
Elsewhere across the capital Westminster (-£25,447), Waltham Forest (-£23,944), Wandsworth (-£23,346), Tower Hamlets (-£19,980) and Hammersmith and Fulham (-£16,863) rank within the top 20 areas to have seen the scariest hits to house prices.
The Shetland Islands (-£25,021), Pembrokeshire (-£21,449), Southend-on-Sea (-£21,136), Powys (-£18,640), Chichester (-£18,483), Elmbridge (-£18,112), Orkney (-£18,007), Harlow (-£17,821), Cambridge (-£17,787) and Rother (-£17,212) also rank within the top 20.
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:
“Forget the ghosts and the ghouls, the one thing that is sure to scare the life out of the nation’s homeowners this Halloween is finding out the value of their home may have plummeted by thousands of pounds.
"Unfortunately for some, this is a spine-tingling reality, with house prices falling across 62% of the UK since last Halloween.
"As our research shows, the scariest Halloween house price drops haven’t been confined to one area of the market, with the likes of Pembrokeshire to Southend, Cambridge and the Orkney Islands all making the top 20 worst hit.
"Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom and despite house prices falling in some areas, there remains a very good proportion of the property market that is yet to see any notable reduction despite the turbulent times of late.”
