zoopla, how accurate is their housing estimate?

aviii

I just wondered how accurate you think Zoopla house estimate is?

Close to market value, not that good?

Whats your opinon / experiance?

AdrianC

It isn't. Not one bit.

They take the last-known sale price for the property, if there is one, and then apply some sort of generic average market-factor to it. If there isn't a last-known sale price, they simply guess.

No more than that. You'd be as well off using a random-number generator.

cashbackproblems

I wouldn't completely rubbish it, but they do rely on similar sales in the area and these must be recent for an up to date price.

I use it as a guide sometimes i find its higher than the listed price

aviii

Lol - cheers,
I notice most of there estimate were way under what was being asked - so was wondering how a vendor or EA comes up with theres.

HouseMouse

I think they should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

An area I know well currently has a Zoopla estimate for a house I used to live in that's almost 10% under the price it last sold for (2013). Prices in that area are rising, not falling. Its a 3 bed, whereas the others in the same street that have sold within the last 10 years are all 2 beds. There's a flying freehold over a shared passageway so the first floor area is bigger than the neighbouring properties, and that extra bedroom does make a big difference. Zoopla cannot know that they aren't comparing like with like.

G_M

Waste of time. Ignore.

DaftyDuck

For once, I don't agree with G_M. Accurate or not, a lot of people believe in them or, like the OP, think they may be right. It's a valuable piece of information, and can make negotiating easier or harder, depending what Zoopla give as the value. Doesn't make in "right" in either sense, but still a factor when either buying or selling.

The values don't tend to be too inaccurate in the main. Still not accurate. When buying, if there is a large discrepancy either way, I want to understand why....

datostar

Absolutely useless when houses have previously been sold at a discount to the market price, e.g. to Local Authority tenants etc. They take the last price from the Land Registry which is the actual price paid, not the pre-discount value (which they have no way of knowing) then slavishly apply their percentage increase over the years.

Davesnave

They're a bit like religions; people believe in them so they're a factor in the overall human experience of marketing houses.

When you actually get into the detail, you find there are some fairly huge assumptions made.

They can't 'do' mine, because they haven't the usual access to the data.... .....but it doesn't stop them trying.

Hallelujah, I've been saved! :rotfl:

Kynthia

I would laugh at any buyer that tried to use a zoopla valuation as a negotiating tool. I would then give them examples of their ridiculousness and tell them to negotiate using proper information or go away as they've lost all credibility with me.

lush_walrus

Depends how many comparable the house or flat has. A zoopla estimate of a two bed terraced house in an area where there are many will be pretty close. A one off detached house will likely be far off.

They base their estimates on comparables drawn from rightmove so if there is nothing really to compare it to then it will be a struggle. EAs base their valuations on a form of better or worse than similar types of properties on there and others books. If marginally better than a bit more if marginally worse a bit less. They are guessing against a buyers preference against others on the market at a given time, based on their experience or what people like.

Exactly the same way anything is valued, shops apply a percentage mark up but then assess where that positions their item against a competitor. There is no dark art to valuing it's all common sense - as an automated system Zoopla will not have that skill