House prices 105x what they were in 1952

Itismehonest

Generali wrote: »

To put that into perspective, the RPI was 9.7 in 1952 and 240.8 now.

Inflation as measured by the RPI has been about 24x.

However, houses being bought today are very different from those that were up for sale in 1952. How much of the increase in price is down to double glazing, central heating, laminated flooring/fitted carpets, fan ovens, down lighters, fitted kitchens including dishwashers and freezers, multiple toilets/bathrooms, internet, TV & telephone connections?

The answer is nobody knows although doubtless many claim to know.

In 1952 people were only just starting to get used to the idea that inside loos weren't posh. The things you list didn't filter through to the ordinary home until years & years later....... maybe the 70s? Someone will remember, no doubt.

RenovationMan

sharpy2010 wrote: »

It does seem like a lot of people don't earn much more than £140 now. I live in South Wales and I don't know many people on more than £220 a week.

Make your mind up, is it £140 or £220?

ash28

oldvicar wrote: »

IIRC in 1982 my first job as a trainee paid £7193 pa plus perks. Around £140 pw, but not all take-home as I suppose there were taxes then too.

OH was a fully qualified and trained air traffic engineer at Edinburgh Airport in 1982 and he earned around £8k.

I worked 3 nights in a pub - Thurs, Fri and Sunday night - I was well paid for pub work as my boss paid double time for a Sunday and paid for us all taxis home - I earned £26 a week.

We bought our first house in 1982 for £23.5k - a brand new 3 bed terrace.

We had 3 young children at the time and the house was the cheapest new build we could find - I had seen one I really liked but it was out of our price range - 3 bed semi built by Wimpey but it had no central heating and the rooms were very small - OH pointed out the small furniture - it was £28k and too expensive. We went for a new build because you needed a smaller deposit.

Our solicitors fees in Scotland at the time were £1k and we had to pay them monthly - as did most of our friends.

We moved at the end of last year (not from that house) and came across all the paper work for the house.

ash28

Itismehonest wrote: »

In 1952 people were only just starting to get used to the idea that inside loos weren't posh. The things you list didn't filter through to the ordinary home until years & years later....... maybe the 70s? Someone will remember, no doubt.

My sister and her husband bought a house (still live in it) in 1986 - 3 bed semi built in 1963. The elderly couple who had bought it new had died and my sister bought it for £45k.

The house was in it's original condition - Kitchen - sink unit with cupboards underneath and 1 double wall unit - so no work tops. Gas point for the cooker. 3 doors into a fairly small kitchen - 1 from the hall, 1 from the dining room and 1 from the utility room - so hardly any wall space for units - got rid of dining room door - they are now in the process of making it into a kitchen diner.

No double glazing, central heating downstairs only, downstairs toilet in the utility room with brick walls - no plastering in the utility or toilet, ceilings were wooden with joists. The level of the utility room floor was below the damp proof course on the same level as the garage. So there was a big step down to the utility and toilet.

The bathroom had a lovely primrose coloured suite - must have been the height of chic when the house was built.

They had it rewired, new kitchen, new bathroom, new central heating system, put in a shower, double glazing, put units and sink in the utility room. It doesn't sound a lot but it was a lot of work.

thorsoak

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&rlz=1R2GCNV_en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=571&wrapid=tlif133711449943710&q=40+malwood+road+south+benfleet&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47d8c4dd1470e3bf:0xbec8be55415419ee,40+Malwood+Rd,+Benfleet+SS7+5TZ&gl=uk&ei=kL-yT4bAJobK0QXVks2qCQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q8gEwAA

This house was bought new in 1963, for £3,250, with an LCC mortgage. It looked pretty much the same in 1963 as it does now, although it looks as if the windows are now double-glazed. Consisted of through lounge with open fire and a hatch through into the kitchen. Two doors from the hall - one into lounge (23' x 12', reducing to 10' at the dining end. French door in lounge to back garden. Kitchen was about 10' x 9', I think. Door to back garden, sink unit (with white enamel sink), one 3' floor unit, 1 3' wall unit plus broom cupboard was all that constituted the "fitted kitchenette". Solid floors downstairs, with thermoplastic tiles (black as standard, coloured cost extra). Upstairs, three bedrooms, one with airing cupboard, smallest with overstair cupboard. Separate toilet & bathroom (white suite - coloured cost extra). We had an allowance of 5s 0d per roll for wallpaper of our choice in every room, and an allowance of £30 for firesurround of choice.

We moved in 1976 - by which time we'd fitted a "proper" kitchen, added central heating and closed in the front porch - but that doesn't seem to be there anymore.

It was a nice house - and some of the original neighbours still live there.

rossontheweb

is that adjusted for inflation?

Also, any 'gains' in property price are only being propped up by amazingly cheap interest rates.
If everyone today suddenly had to pay today what they would have paid back then, I think the housing market would be sqeeeeezed!

Generali

rossontheweb wrote: »

is that adjusted for inflation?

Also, any 'gains' in property price are only being propped up by amazingly cheap interest rates.
If everyone today suddenly had to pay today what they would have paid back then, I think the housing market would be sqeeeeezed!

House prices (like all asset prices) are set at the margin not at the average though.

You could say the same about any asset based wealth: Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet's company) wouldn't be able to buy all the assets it owns today at current prices. It doesn't have to however as it bought them at yesterday's prices!

nearlyrich

woodbine wrote: »

bringing home £30 a week in 1982?what weren`t you doing?i was bringing home about £170 a week by then,as a retail manager

I worked for the department of employment as a clerical assistant the money was poor to say the least.

I got a job in 1988 @ £6000pa in the private sector and managed to pay a mortgage keep two children and myself fed and clothed run a small car etc not a lot of spare cash though.

Fortunately I have made up for it since

aliasojo

My parents house was £600. (It was a tenement flat as opposed to a 'house', to be fair.) Dad was in the Army then worked on the buses when he left so it's not like he was in some high powered job. Mum didn't work.

They didn't have a mortgage, they saved the £600 to buy outright. As did others of that era around them.

Hardly possible for the majority these days.

charlie3090

my parents bought their house in 1959 for £2,800 ,they paid £29 a month for i guess 25 years,must have been most of my dads wages in the early days,
explains why we had no carpets/heating etc.
worth about £350,000 today,3 bed 1930s semi.