We’ve launched our first national TV advertising campaign
Finding that special one can sometimes be a bit tricky.
Some are a bit cheap, some a bit scruffy, some too flash and some inadequately sized. Maybe you’re looking for one that’ll gain a few pounds, perhaps you want to know what they’re worth or maybe you like to keep an eye on the older ones?
Luckily we have all the information you need to really find that special one…property, that is!
As a nation we’re obsessed with property. We all love to play the nosey neighbour game, snoop around a celebrity pad, or find out what our home is worth or what our neighbour paid for theirs.
Since we launched back in January 2008 we’ve grown at an unrivalled pace, however our marketing to date has been largely focussed online…
…today, this all changes. We’re making our TV debut as we continue our quest to turn Zoopla into a household name targeting property buyers, renters, sellers and landlords. The initial campaign will run for five weeks to the end of September and is part of an extensive multi-million pound TV, print and digital campaign to run over the coming months. 87% of adults will see the TV ad at least once during the initial five-week period and the TV campaign will include a number of prime-time slots across ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the Sky digital channels.
The TV ads centre on the theme that finding the perfect property is much like finding the perfect partner and reinforce our core philosophy that free and easily accessible information helps buyers, renters, sellers and owners make better-informed property decisions.
So, why not improve your chances in the property market with Zoopla.co.uk.
Let us know what you think about the advert below, on youtube or twitter.
The official announcement can be found here
Property performance in university cities
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With A-Level results out this week and the same week the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) proclaimed “The Golden age of home ownership comes to an end”, we’ve looked into change in property values in the top 20 University locations over the last 12 months.
We recently released our Rent v Buy index which reveals that buying a home beats renting in 74% of cases around Britain.
Change in average property values in University cities
| University City | Avg. ValueAugust 2010 | Avg. ValueAugust 2009 | 12 Month Change (£) | 12 Month Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | £307,488 | £272,106 | £35,382 | 13% |
| Brighton | £263,371 | £241,441 | £21,930 | 9.08% |
| Loughborough | £185,024 | £172,521 | £12,503 | 7.25% |
| Oxford | £332,845 | £311,892 | £20,953 | 6.72% |
| York | £218,310 | £204,791 | £13,519 | 6.60% |
| Leicester | £167,562 | £157,891 | £9,671 | 6.13% |
| Lancaster | £162,116 | £153,072 | £9,044 | 5.91% |
| Southampton | £213,216 | £202,541 | £10,675 | 5.27% |
| Bristol | £218,712 | £208,517 | £10,195 | 4.89% |
| Sheffield | £155,841 | £148,619 | £7,222 | 4.86% |
| Durham | £147,472 | £140,675 | £6,797 | 4.83% |
| Norwich | £190,452 | £185,095 | £5,357 | 2.89% |
| Aberdeen | £205,142 | £197,325 | £7,817 | 2.57% |
| Cambridge | £285,877 | £279,644 | £6,233 | 2.23% |
| Nottingham | £151,238 | £148,820 | £2,418 | 1.63% |
| Newcastle | £172,095 | £169,670 | £2,425 | 1.43% |
| Leeds | £163,785 | £161,501 | £2,284 | 1.41% |
| Glasgow | £149,047 | £147,575 | £1,472 | 1% |
| Exeter | £218,012 | £216,014 | £1,998 | 0.93% |
| Edinburgh | £225,982 | £224,344 | £1,638 | 0.73% |
| Birmingham | £147,271 | £146,727 | £544 | 0.37% |
| Coventry | £147,495 | £147,256 | £239 | 0.16% |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as the Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thanks
Cheryl Cole decides to sell Hurtmore House
They’re all at it….celebrities selling their homes that is…first Katie Price, now Cheryl Cole, who will be next?
Back in February we wrote about how the nation’s sweet heart and Girls Aloud singer, Cheryl Cole, who was voted the nations second favourite celebrity neighbour in the annual Zoopla.co.uk Celebrity Neighbour Survey, had lost a whopping £302,463 on the purchase price of the Surrey home she bough with Ashley Cole.
Well, since February property values have risen in Godalming, Surrey (where average values are £418,685) and according to a report in a newspaper, Cheryl is now ready to sell and move from Surrey to West London. Better timing Mrs Cole.
Consequently, the value of her home, Hurtmore House in Godalming, Surrey which is listed on Zoopla (we list every UK home, all 27m) is now £3,443,684, just £106,316 short of her purchase price of £3,550,000 that she paid on 19th Oct 2007. We wonder what her asking price will be?
Value change over time for Hurtmore House
| Detail | £ / Value change |
|---|---|
| Zoopla estimate – Aug 2010 | £3,443,684 |
| ——————————————- | |
| Value change one year ago | +£305,868 (9.7%) |
| Value change two years ago | - £40,813 (-1.2%) |
| Value change three years ago | - £110,974 (-3.1%) |
| ——————————————- | |
| Purchase price (October 2007) | £3,550,000 |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as the Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thanks.
Check out Katie Price’s (8-bed) particulars on Zoopla.co.uk
Celebrity glamour model Katie Price, formerly known as Jordan, has lived her life through the tabloids. There is very little we don’t know about the best-selling author (really) or that can’t be found out via Google! So, we are somewhat surprised that the sale of her 10,000 sq ft, 8-bedroomed, former care home in Woldingham, Surrey (where average home values are £836,734) has, so far, been unusually low-key. What’s more, if she achieves her asking price, it’s possible she could end up making £850,000 on the sale (excluding costs).
She re-married earlier this year and in June splashed out £2m on a 6-bedroom, 53 acre property with horse stables in West Sussex (where average home values are £267,879)to set up home with cage fighting hubby and Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Alex Reid.
Clearly she now has no need for her former (care) home she shared with her former husband, Peter Andre, and has listed the property for sale with a price tag of £2,950,000. We hear she bought the property for £2,100,000 in 2008.
Here’s the property for sale on Zoopla.co.uk and here are some vital stats:
- Average property values for Lunghurst Road, Surrey according to Zoopla are: £1,020,361
- Over the last 5 years 12 properties have been sold on this road with an average sold price of £808,833
- If Katie Price achieves her asking price, she could be set to make £850,000
Here are Pricey’s particulars:
8 Bedrooms | 7 Bathrooms/Shower Rooms | Grand Reception Hall | Drawing Room/Cinema Room | Dining Room (Currently A Playroom) | Family Room | Study | Orangery | Kitchen/Breakfast Room | Gym | Indoor Pool Complex | Triple Garage
Here are more pictures of Katie Price’s property
Zoopla.co.uk gives you the bigger picture – view here
We’re constantly listening to your feedback, making changes, adding tools and creating even better functionality where we feel it will create a better experience. Ultimately we’re here to help you make the best possible property related decisions and our latest addition is part of that journey.
When it comes to pictures of property, the old adage “A picture is worth a thousands words” is certainly true. Our research shows that property listings for sale with good quality imagery are more likely to receive an enquiry than those that have drab, dark imagery with low resolution.
So, we’ve now added an even better viewing experience and bring you the bigger picture. You can now view larger property pictures (where available) on the property details pages either individually or via a slide show.
This is the normal view, before we introduced the ‘bigger picture’:
…and here is the bigger picture:
Keep the feedback coming either by leaving a comment below, through Zoopla or come and find us on twitter.
House price headlines: hyperbole or fact?
This morning’s headlines about the housing market certainly looked gloomy. Today’s Times leads with a ‘House market stalls as economy falters’ which made a good headline but reflected a fairly excitable and sensational view of the market.
Of course a headline that says ‘Glut of houses for sale coincides with possible economic downturn following yet-to-come government cost cutting’ isn’t likely to shift newspapers, but it’s more accurate.
So let’s separate the facts from the hyperbole. House prices are falling or at least stagnating in many parts of the UK but this is not because the economy is ‘sagging’ but instead, many of the writers have omitted to point out until their later paragraphs, because there has been a huge surge in property for sale.
On FindaProperty.com this supply into the market has risen by 31 per cent over the past 12 months and by nine per cent alone in June – so there is no argument that, after a period of price rises, many sellers have decided to put their homes on the market and see what happens.
The unfortunate and unintended outcome of this is to force prices down. The constant number of buyers house hunting at the moment means they have more properties to choose from and when that happens, their bargaining power increases and prices drop. But it doesn’t mean the economy – or the property market – is nose diving, as The Times, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail have all suggested.
The greatest mistake many commentators make when examining house prices is that they are somehow like retail prices. They think that if prices drop it must be because demand is weakening and this means we’re all going to hell in a handcart. Instead, unlike the latest Jimmy Choos or iPhone, property is all about supply and price and not so much about demand.
The figures that sparked this morning’s frenzied reporting – almost every newspaper has led with the story – has been based on figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It is a ‘new stock’ report that also takes ‘sentiment’ in as a factor, as Radio 4’s Today programme pointed out this morning, rather than being a whole-market appraisal. It’s a weighty piece of research (used by the Bank of England) but is only a part of the picture.
The other point is that although the property market may be wobbling this month, it is a very regional, not national, picture. The FindaProperty.com sales index clearly reflects what the Nationwide and RICS figures also show – that in London, the SW and the NW surveyors are feeling a bit downbeat about the market while in the NE, Yorkshire and Humber, Wales and the Midlands there’s a bit of a pall.
But most importantly (and missed out in all the newspaper reports) the same surveyors say things will look up over the next three months – which probably reveals the real story here: everyone is on holiday and buyers are thin on the ground at the moment, while properties for sale are rising.
Back to basics with beach huts
After reading a recent story on the BBC News website which asked “Are beach huts the new penthouses?” we got a little curious and used our clever keyword search tool to find “beach hut” properties for sale on Zoopla.co.uk.
Beach huts regularly make the headlines due to their quirkiness but predominantly because of the prices they fetch seem to be on the rise. Typically prices range from £9,000 – £120,000. However an unusual case back in July 2006 saw a pre-war wooden beach chalet sell at auction for £216,000. It was one of a group of 14 that were built in 1934 and came with spectacular views over Chesil Beach at West Bexington, Dorset. One of the possible reasons it fetched such a premium, was the fact that in this beach hut overnight stays were permitted, which is unusual for a beach hut.
So, if you’re on the look out for a beach hut here are eight we found which range from £40,000 on Portland Bill to a £10,000 beach hut on the Isle of Wight.
Buckets and spades at the ready…
1. Portland Bill, Portland – offers over £40,000
2. Pier Avenue, Whitstable – £22,000
3. Tanketron Slopes, Whitstable – £21,000
4. Shoeburyness, Southend-On-Sea – £20,000
5. Marine Parade, Whitstable – £18,500
6. Puckpool, Ryde, Isle Of Wight – £15,000
7. Queens Gardens, Hove – £12,000
8. The Esplanage, East Cowes, Isle of Wight – £10,000
If you own a beach hut or have ever thought of owning one, let us know your thoughts in the comments box below, or come and say hello on twitter.
