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Pensioner property wealth hits record high

New figures show that over-65 homeowners now own property wealth of £861 billion.

PROPERTYdrum

retirement_homeRetired homeowners in the UK now collectively own property worth £861 billion with their total property wealth increasing by more than £33 billion in the past six months, the equivalent of around £1,200 a month each.

New research from over 55s financial specialist Key Retirement Solutions says that their total property wealth is now at its highest level since the firm started monitoring the housing wealth of the over 65s five years ago, with pensioners who own their homes outright having earned an average of £7,117 each from their homes in the past six months.

Since Key started monitoring the housing wealth of the over-65s, in January 2010, total pensioner property wealth has increased by £81.27 billion – the equivalent of £17,323 each.

Its Pensioner Property Equity Index shows over-65 homeowners now own property wealth of £861.188 billion outright as a result of higher property prices across most parts of the UK.

Retired homeowners in London saw the biggest gains, at an average of over £20,675 each in the past six months, while homeowners in the South East are more than £14,123 better off and pensioners in East Anglia are £13,105 better off.

Only retired homeowners in the North East saw a fall in housing wealth with average losses of £581 in the six months.

Key’s figures show almost a fifth of all pensioner property equity is owned by over-65s in London with total wealth of £167.731 billion. Nearly two thirds of pensioner property wealth is concentrated in London, the South East, the South West and East Anglia.

dean_mirfin_key_retirement_“Retired homeowners have huge assets in their houses with total property wealth hitting an all-time high of £861 billion,” said Dean Mirfin (left) of Key Retirement. “In the past five years they’ve made an average of more than £17,000 each from their homes.”

The table below shows the 11 areas of Great Britain monitored by Key’s index with 10 recording gains.

 

 Region Average change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between August index and February index)  Combined change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between August and February index) 
 London  increase of £20,675  +£7.567 billion
 South East  increase of £14,123  +£9.264 billion
 South west  increase of £6,152  +£3.854 billion
 North west  increase of £3,956  +£2.654 billion
 East Anglia  increase of £13,105  +£6.185 billion
 East Midlands  increase of £3,954  +£1.704 billion
 West Midlands  increase of £2,139  +£766.167 million
 Scotland  increase of £3,075  +£867.15 million
 Yorks/Humbs  increase of £709  +£204.671 million
 Wales  increase of £1,823  +£482.365 million
 North East  £581 decrease  -£159.77 million
 Great Britain  +£7,117  +£33.392 billion

The table below shows over-65 homeowners in the North West are most likely to own their home outright – Key’s analysis shows 671,000 own their homes without mortgages compared with 656,000 in the South East.

Region  Estimated property equity in homes owned outright by people aged 65+ (February 2015) Estimated percentage of total value of property equity belonging to people aged 65+ (February 2015)  Number of households in the region owned outright by people aged 65+ 
 London  £167.731 billion  19.48%  366,000
 South East  £158.904 billion  18.45%  656,000
 South West  £117.194 billion  13.61%  626,600
 East  £94.836 billion  11.01%  472,000
 North West  £76.400 billion  8.87%  671,100
 East Midlands  £57.342 billion  6.66%  431,200
 West Midlands  £49.232 billion  5.72%  358,400
 Scotland  £46.585 billion  5.41%  282,000
 Yorks/Humbs  £34.461 billion  4%  288,600
 Wales  £31.556 billion  3.66%  264,600
 North East  £26.942 billion  3.13%  275,000
 GREAT BRITAIN  £861.188 billion  4,691,500

 

March 31, 2015

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