We always talk these days about the ‘average property price’ rising and assume that’s because the cost of housing is going up. However, what many people forget is that average house prices can also rise because we are adding a lot of value to existing properties ourselves, as well as building ones with much higher specifications.
Read - Trading Up Checklist
Here are three reasons why average house prices can go up:
Renovating low priced homes and putting them back on the market at a higher price
Building new homes at a more expensive price than existing ones (they can sell for 10% more)
Creating more expensive homes with additional features eg more en suites, high tech gadgets
A new study from Tepilo researched 2,000 people planning to buy in the next year and very much suggests that people’s expectations of putting a roof over their head is way in excess of what it used to be ‘back in the day’!
Read - Renovating a Property Checklist
When asked about their dream home, the most popular spec and features people wanted were:
A four-bedroomed house
Beach or city centre location
45% wanted to design/build it themselves
48% want en suites for each bedroom
42% say they need an indoor swimming pool
47% want a huge kitchen with an island
47% want a huge garden
38% apparently are after a conservatory or orangery
37% are looking for open fires or wood burning stoves
38% preferred high security
However, people are realistic about what they would need to do to get it:
38% think they’ll only get what they want if they win the lottery
26% don’t ever think they will achieve what they want
Apparently it doesn’t end there, many are after balconies, relaxation rooms, a gym and an indoor cinema room, with even more asking for a granny flat, wine cellar, aquarium or sound-proof room. And there are many party-lovers out there after a nightclub or bar (for their neighbours’ sakes, let’s hope they are the same people who dream of a sound-proof room!).
Favourite property types include:
Country cottage
Huge mansion
Detached bungalow
Such information can be useful for housebuilders, who are increasingly ticking boxes with en suites, conservatories and large kitchens for an ever more discerning group of buyers. An en suite for each bedroom may not be the norm, but it’s now commonplace to have one in the master bedroom in a four-bed new build.
Read - Maintaining your Property Checklist
It’s also interesting to note than 45% of those questioned would like to design and build their home themselves. This is something that’s become much easier with the advent of Custom Build, where you work closely with a developer to create a home designed just for you. Register your interest at www.custombuildhomes.co.uk to alert your local authority that there are people out there looking for land.
However, it’s important to remember that these are just people’s fantasy homes, and bear little relation to reality for many. It’s just as useful to look what what people are actually searching for when house-hunting. When you bring them down to earth, it turns out that most people are actually searching for:
A property worth just over £200,000
A three-bedroomed semi
Suburban location
And after years of saving, months of searching and weeks of dealing with estate agents and solicitors, moving into such a property can be your dream come true.
