House prices have increased by £5K since January for St Albans and Harpenden homeowners aged 65-plus
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The ‘pensioner property pound’ has peaked, with retired homeowners’ wealth growing by £9.24bn since the start of the year.
A study has found that the average pensioner has earned more than £500 a month from their home since the end of January.
The south east, covering St Albans and Harpenden, enjoyed an 18.89 percent rise in property value - second only to London (21.13 percent). Since January, houses in the Herts Ad patch have become worth just over £5k more among homeowners aged 65+.
Over-65s in London are best off in terms of increases – with property price rises of nearly £21k, which is around ten times the national average. And Scottish pensioners were worst off, suffering losses of £8.5k.
The research, carried out by KeyRetirement.com who compiled a Pensioner Property Index, compared six regions, including the south east, Wales, the south west, East Anglia, the east Midlands and London.
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But Scotland, Yorkshire and Humberside, the north east, the west Midlands and the north west were blighted by property price falls in the same period.
We appear to be a nation with rich older adults, with almost £175bn worth of property equity belonging to people over the age of 65 who own their homes outright in the south east alone.
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Those conducting the survey reckon the findings help highlight the growing importance of investment in homes for planning retirement, which is reflected in continuing expansion of the equity release market.
Dean Mirfin, technical director of KeyRetirement.com, said: “Property wealth is a huge asset for pensioners and is making a massive contribution to standards of living in retirement. The different housing markets around the country show prices do vary but the long-term story is that property wealth is still growing.
“The contrast between the average £76k that can be generated from property wealth and the value of average pension savings underlines how vital it is to seek independent expert advice on how to use housing wealth.”
