House Owners Made Over £100,000 When Selling Their Property in 2022

Researchers claim that Homeowners who have bought a property in the past 20 years and sold in 2022 have typically made a gross profit of more than £100,000.

Analysis by Hamptons research found that double-digit house price increases in 2022 has meant that owners selling their property made record gains last year.

The average seller in England and Wales who bought a property within the last 20 years and sold it in 2022 made a profit of £108,000 on average, which is an increase from £96,220 in 2021, according to the research.

A record 94% of sellers sold their property in 2022 for more than they paid for it, having owned it for an average of 8.9 years.

In percentage terms, the average seller in England & Wales sold their home for 52% more than they bought it for, researchers claim.

There are now 173 metropolitan boroughs, around half of those across England & Wales where the average homeowner made a six-figure profit when selling their home.  This figure has increased from 116 in 2021.  

The majority – or 87% - of these metropolitan boroughs were in the South of England, a decrease from 94% in 2021.

The increase in the average amount of money people have made on their property has been driven by bigger homes being sold in 2022, Hamptons suggests.

While detached homes made up 19% of sales in 2022, they accounted for 35% of properties selling for £100,000 plus gains in 2022.  

The average detached home was sold for £186,940 more than its original purchase price, which is again of 61% and 3.3 times the average gain made on a flat of £57,080 in 2022.

The average house seller in 2022 made a 57% gain on their home up from 51% in 2021, compared to 29% for apartment owners in both 2022 and 2021. 

Typically, these larger homes have also been owned for a longer period and have benefited from additional house price inflation in previous years which boosts the average gain. 

25% of houses sold in 2022 had been bought 15 to 20 years ago, up from 20% in 2019.  

Of all the apartments sold in 2022, just 34% had been bought within the last five years, down from 41% in 2020. This was due to weaker demand for apartments as people looked for more space during the pandemic.

The average apartment owner who sold in 2022 bought their home 8.7 years ago, up from 8.3 years in 2021, 2020 and 2019, according to the research.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “While there are several uncertainties weighing on the market, even if prices do fall this year, it’s likely that over 90% of sellers will still sell at a profit. 

“The other 10% will mostly be apartment owners who bought in the last five or so years.  The shift away from recent mortgaged homeowners selling cheaper homes towards older, more affluent homeowners selling more expensive homes also looks set to push up gains among sellers again this year.”