Zoopla such a joke!!

nollag2006

Yes - I see that they state that house prices in my area have on risen 8% in the past year, when in actual fact they are 12-15% up the market low point in March 2009

chucknorris

Zoopla is indeed a joke and anyone that thinks otherwise is deluded. To demonstate just how bad zoopla is, I have 3 flats in the same block in Battersea SW11 and there isn't much difference in their values, which I would estimate as follows (please note that although I might be slightly out on the actual value, I will NOT be out on the ratio between the flats):

a) 250k 2 bed flat with garden
b) 255k 2 bed maisonete with garden
c) 265k 3 bed flat with balcony (inferior flat and 3rd bed is a single)

Zoopla values them as follows:
a) 212k
b) 185k
c) 305k

There is just no way that the a) is worth 14.5% more than b) at worst they would be the same

There is no way that c) is worth anywhere near 305k in this market and to suggest this and that it is worth 65% more than b) is just plain stupid, I reckon it is only about 4%

SingleSue

I've just had a look for my parents road and it does indeed appear to not really bear any relation to reality.

Two houses, both side by side as they are semi detached, both in similar decorative order, same garden space, double glazing replaced the same year, new central heating (they were the typical keeping up with the Jones's, one did something, the other did exactly the same within a month)....one valued at £174,867, the other at £142,215 by Zoopla.

They had difficulty coming up with a value for my parents house..the last time it sold was in 1969 and it wouldn't accept the price they paid for it as it didn't have enough digits but after leaving all that out, it came out with a value of £181,294 compared to their neighbours (who they are semi detached with and last sold in 2006 for £177,000) of £177,413.

We actually estimate the value to be around £165,000 ish at the very most.

Running_Horse

On a nearby row of more or less identical terraced houses (worth about £160,000), they are valued at anywhere from £80,000 to £180,000. I would ignore any buyer who tried to value my house via Zoopla.

nollag2006

SingleSue wrote: »

...

Two houses, both side by side as they are semi detached, both in similar decorative order...one valued at £174,867, the other at £142,215 by Zoopla.

... it came out with a value of £181,294 compared to their neighbours (who they are semi detached with and last sold in 2006) of £177,413.

Hi Sue

To be honest a 5% variance in price is probably not all that bad, even the best EA's would probably struggle to accurately value a house to 5% of its open market value.

Harry_Powell

Doctor_Gloom wrote: »

Au contraire. It tends to be house owners/vendors that are deluded.
They always think their houses are worth more than they really are. Only when they try to sell their property is their delusion exposed for all to see.

If zoopla base their price estimates on sold prices, then how can your statement be true?

Running_Horse

If Zoopla base their price estimates on sold prices, then why are their prices so wildly inaccurate?

IveSeenTheLight

Harry_Powell wrote: »

If zoopla base their price estimates on sold prices, then how can your statement be true?

Who knows how they work it out.
I do know the have a confidence rating on how well they think they have valued it, which varies from property.

It would seem that they take sold prices and apply the region percentage using the first 4 digits of a post code regardless of whether the property is a house, flat, bungalow or whatever.

That said, they have repeatedly as indicated on here, valued two very similar properties at vastly different prices

Harry_Powell

I don't doubt that Zoopla's prices are wildly inaccurate, that wasn't the point of my post. I was asking Dr. Gloom how the 'deluded greed' of owner's/vendor's asking prices had any impact on Zoopla's prices.

I was interested in how Dr. Gloom's statement that "They [vendors] always think their houses are worth more than they really are. Only when they try to sell their property is their delusion exposed for all to see", had any relevence to this thread, given that zoopla's prices are based on sold prices. Surely if the vendors are deluding themselves and asking prices that are too high, then these houses won't sell and therefore wont impact zoopla's prices?

bigheadxx

nollag2006 wrote: »

Yes - I see that they state that house prices in my area have on risen 8% in the past year, when in actual fact they are 12-15% up the market low point in March 2009

Even if you could quantify that as true it is still delusional to think that prices will rise in real terms over the next 5 years.