Homeowners "earning" 1,100 a week

Rising house prices leave homeowners counting their money.

09:14 18 May 2004

The current trend of rising house prices has meant that homeowners have made up to 1,100 a week over the past three months.

The property website, rightmove.co.uk, revealed that average property values have risen by 4,380 over the past month, and by 14,500 (an increase of 8.3 per cent) over the past quarter.

"The owner-occupier has been doing very well this year," said Miles Shipside, commercial director of rightmove, commenting on the report.

"Just by owning the average property, he or she has been making a tax-free capital gain of over 1,100 a week. To earn that much from a day job, they would have to earn well over 90,000 a year, when you take account of tax and national insurance."

These increases, of course, mean hefty profits for the owners, yet continued house price inflation makes it harder for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.

The number of those buying their first-time property fell in 2003 to 29 per cent - down from 55 per cent a decade earlier.