It seems that Britain is a nation of nosy neighbours – we are all obsessed with what our friends and neighbour’s houses are worth – especially if we are struggling to market our own in the credit crunch…
Are you guilty? I am. I admit that I have logged on and nosed around my friend’s addresses – Streetview being a willing new accessory to my voyeurism.
I have also checked out the prices of their houses on mouseprice.com and given the same treatment to my new neighbours – before I have even moved onto their street.
For me, it has nothing to do with keeping up with the Jones and everything to do with seeing what my new place could be worth when the market picks up again.
But, according to new research by Propertylive.co.uk, more than one in 10 people (12 per cent) admitted that they deliberately used UK property websites to find out the value of their friends’ and neighbours’ properties.
A further one in 20 (five per cent) said they were keen to know how much their colleagues’ homes were worth.
Whilst the majority of snoopers admitted that their motive was curiosity, many of them also wanted to know when would be a good time to move and used house prices to help them decide.
Londoners emerged as the most prolific property snoopers. Almost one in six (16 per cent) logged on to find out the value of their friends’ and neighbours’ homes, compared with 12 per cent in Newcastle, seven per cent in Brighton and six per cent in Liverpool One in eight (13 per cent) also said that they wanted to know how much their colleagues’ properties were worth.
Even when we are not looking to move, seven in ten of us spend time trawling through property online, showing that we have become a nation obsessed with house prices.
Those aged between 25 and 34 were the most fixated with the property market, with eight in 10 regularly looking at property, despite having no intention of buying or renting.
They were also the nosiest age group, with more than one in six checking the price of their friends’ and neighbours’ homes, and one in eight snooping on their colleagues’ properties.
Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents and the National Federation of Property Professionals, which launched PropertyLive.co.uk, said, “It is no secret that Brits are always concerned about the value of their own properties.
“But property surfing on the internet has become a hobby for those of us who are just as interested in snooping on the price of neighbour’s and friends’ homes.
“In the digital age, property portals are the internet equivalent of spying on the neighbours from behind net curtains. It is the modern way of keeping up with the Joneses,” added Mr Bolton King.
For more information on property in the UK and the property market in general, please visit http://www.themovechannel.co.uk/
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.
For further information, please contact:
Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.co.uk
0207 952 7650
