Higher earners enjoy modest house price gains reports Moneynet

•Overall average property value was £205,518
•The average value of a property for a First Time Buyer (FTB) was £195,282
•Users looking to re-mortgage valued their property at an average of £249,322


PROPERTY values for workers in the higher rate tax bracket crept up last month (March 2005) according to Moneynet’s latest monthly mortgage data (see table below).

The overall UK average property value of higher earners – those in the higher rate (40% plus) tax bracket – climbed to £205,518, up from February’s £204,656 according to Moneynet (www.moneynet.co.uk) research.

“The slight rise in values in March is broadly in line with price rises signalled by the latest Nationwide Building Society,” said Moneynet chief executive Richard Brown.

“Average property values for visitors to our site – in common with many of those who regularly use the internet for financial information and transactions – are higher than for those on the national average wage, but we believe the survey to be a key tool for charting house price trends for the UK’s higher earners,” added Brown.

“As well as basic tables to be found with the press release, Moneynet can also provide a detailed breakdown of the different categories of mortgage lending – eg fixed or discounted loans – favoured by consumers on a month by month basis.”


See below for full figures (March):

AVERAGE PROPERTY VALUES
•Overall average property value was £205,518
•The average value of a property for a First Time Buyer (FTB) was £195,282
•Users looking to re-mortgage valued their property at an average of 249,322


AVERAGE MORTGAGE AMOUNTS
•Overall average mortgage amount required was £136,604, a 67% loan to value (LTV)
•FTBs were looking for an average mortgage amount of £130,518, a 67% LTV
•Those users seeking to re-mortgage their property required an average mortgage amount of £155,801, a 63% LTV


SALARIES
•The overall average salary of the main income earner was £38,818
•An average FTB's salary was £36,090
•Those users looking to re-mortgage had a main income of £44,292
•For two income households, the second salary averaged out at £23,199 for FTBs; £25,670 for users looking to re-mortgage.

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Notes for editors:

About moneynet:
Moneynet was the first UK web site to publish a comprehensive, independent and impartial overview of the products available in the personal finance sector. The company is headed up by Robert Brown, Richard Brown and Keith Goldson.

Further information:

E-mail: info@moneynet.co.uk/
Telephone: 020 8313 9030
Fax: 020 8464 1971
Website: http://www.moneynet.co.uk
Address: Moneynet
Sussex House
8-10 Homesdale Road
Bromley
Kent
BR2 9LZ