Record number of sellers in 2022 sold for more than they paid: Hamptons | Mortgage Strategy

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A record 94% of sellers sold their property in 2022 for more than they paid, having owned it for an average of 8.9 years, the latest data from Hamptons reveals.

The data showed that the average seller in England and Wales sold their home for 52% more than they bought it for.

There are now 173 local authorities across England and Wales where the average homeowner made a six-figure gain when selling their home, an increase from 116 in 2021.

Of the 173 local authorities, 87% were located in the South of England, down from 94% in 2021.

London is the only region where the average household gain exceeded £100k in every Local Authority during 2022, with sellers in 17 boroughs exceeding gains of £200k.

The average seller in London sold their home in 2022 for £219,110 or 57% more than they bought it for, having owned it for an average of 9.3 years.

Sellers in Kensington and Chelsea saw the biggest gains, with the average household selling their home for £684,510 more than they paid for it 10.4 years ago.

In Elmbridge, the only non-London local authority that sits within the top 10, the average seller sold their home for £298,500 more than they paid for it, putting it in fifth place.

Meanwhile, the North East saw an average gain of £37,890, and had no local authorities with average gains above £100k.

Sluggish house price growth in the region since the last financial crash has meant that 14% of sellers made a loss on their homes in 2022 but this figure has fallen from 31% in 2019.

Middlesbrough came bottom of the local authority list with an average seller gain of £23,640 in 2022.

Slower house price growth in London over the last few years has meant that Welsh sellers are making bigger gains than Londoners in percentage terms for the first time in at least five years.

In 2022, the average home in Wales sold for 59% more than its purchase price, surpassing the London average of 57%.

The uplift in the average amount of money people have made on their property has been driven by more larger homes being sold in 2022.

While detached homes made up 19% of sales in 2022, they accounted for 35% of properties selling for six-figure gains in 2022.

The average detached home was sold for £186,940 (or 61%) more than its original purchase price, 3.3 times the average gain made on a flat (£57,080) in 2022.

While the percentage gain made by house sellers increased between 2021 and 2022, weaker house price growth meant that it stayed the same for flat sellers.

The average house seller in 2022 made a 57% gain on their home up from 51% in 2021, compared to 29% for flat owners in both 2022 and 2021.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of homes sold in 2022 had been bought 15 to 20 years ago, up from 20% in 2019.

Historically, flat owners have sold up sooner than house owners. However, the weaker flat market has meant that more flat owners have had to stay put for longer.

Of all the flats sold in 2022, just 34% had been bought within the last five years, down from 41% in 2020.

As such, the average flat owner who sold in 2022 bought their home 8.7 years ago, up from 8.3 years in 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Hamptons head of research Aneisha Beveridge says: “While there are a number of uncertainties weighing on the market, even if prices do fall this year, it’s likely that over 90% of sellers will still sell at a profit.”

“The other 10% will mostly be flat owners who bought in the last five or so years. The shift away from recent mortgaged homeowners selling cheaper homes towards older, more affluent homeowners selling more expensive homes also looks set to push up gains among sellers again this year.”


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