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Probably the most obvious survey in the world...

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Catherine Deshayes

The Nationwide House Price Model has revealed something that the vast majority of us already knew - that living near a station pushes up the prices of London houses - but what you may still be surprised about is quite how much the price is altered by...

Those of us living out our big city dreams in London know that it is crucial to have good transport links nearby. After all, what's the point of paying London prices and not being able to access all the attractions of the city?

The vast majority of London dwellers use public transport at some point during the week, with many of us slogging to work on it every day. So it comes as little surprise that new research has 'revealed' that househunters looking for a pad in the capital are willing to dig deeper for a home located close to a station.

It's hardly rocket science is it? But relax, there is an element of surprise left - and quite an eye-opening one at that. We are willing to fork out a whopping £20,000 more for a property located 500 metres away from a tube or overland train station, compared with similar property 1,500 metres away.

The Nationwide House Price Model reveals that houses near a station attract a seven premium, which worked out at approximately £20,300.

Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Nationwide, says that, because 34 per cent of Londoners use trains compared to just eight per cent of the UK as a whole, the willingness to pay more comes as no surprise.

"Using the Nationwide House Price model we have assessed how property prices in the Greater London region vary in relation to the distance to the nearest tube or train station.

"We have isolated the specific impact this has over and above other property characteristics, such as property type, size and local neighbourhood type.

"Property 1,250m from a station attracts a 1.6 per cent premium on that 1,500m away while an identical property located 1,000m from a station would command a 3.4 per cent - a £10,000 premium and at 750m this increases to 5.2 per cent," added Mr Gahbauer.

But, whilst close proximity to a station is key, once the station is outside easy walking distance, the actual distance becomes less important, as you would probably have to get in the car anyway - so what's five more minutes?

In related news, the average UK home is now worth £218,705, up £21,667 (11.02 per cent) since March 2009, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk, which provides free value estimates for every UK home.

This figure remains more than £20,000 below the November 2007 peak, when average house prices reached £239,063, showing that despite the rebound over the last 16 months only half the ground lost over the prior 16-month period has been made up.

Check out homes for sale all across the UK at http://www.themovechannel.co.uk/property/england/

Picture by thoroe

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