House prices returning to 2007 peak

Average house prices rose £15,000 over the last year and are now less than 10% below the 2007 peak...

The average home has increased in value by £15,000 over the past year, according to Nationwide's latest housing market index.

That puts the price of the average home at £169,162 - 9.8% more than it was worth a year ago.

Overall, this means that house prices across the country are now less than 10% below their 2007 peak.

And, in total, prices have risen 12.2% since the market bottomed in February 2009.

Why are house prices rising?

Commenting on the figures, Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist said that "thin transaction volumes and a relative scarcity of properties for sale" are pushing up prices.

However, while house prices are currently returning to their 2007 peak, this could all be set to change for two reasons:

1. The Con-Lib coalition have scrapped Home Information Packs (HIPs), making it easier for sellers to test the market and see whether they get an attractive offer, without shelling out hundreds of pounds
2. It is likely that Capital Gains Tax will rise after the next Budget, which could mean a rush of properties onto the market from buy-to-let landlords and second-homeowners

So, if you are thinking of selling your home, now might just be the best time to do it. But what can you do to make your property more saleable? How can you ensure it attracts a good number of buyers, to capitalise on the recent increase in house prices?

A Winning Combination

There are two ways to ensure a property flies out of the estate agents' window:

•  There is nothing that will put buyers off

•  There is something that will turn buyers on

Guess what? The best properties combine both.

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What Puts Buyers Off?

According to a survey by Co-operative Financial Services, house-hunters are most likely to be put off by smells -- particularly damp (26%), followed by tobacco (25%) and drains (19%).

Nationwide, on the other hand, claims cigarettes and pets are the worst smells, adding that ‘DIY disasters' and ‘poor building work' is most likely to turn off buyers.

Halifax, meanwhile, claims buyers think limescale or mould build up are among the most undesirable features of a property. Many buyers were also put off by properties that didn't have parking spaces or gardens.

And if the property did have a garden, Halifax found the following ‘features' would put buyers off:

Personally, however, I'd take most of this research with a pinch of salt. I mean, really, any buyer who is put off a property by a gnome belongs in Bedlam anyway.

On the other hand, it is common sense to ensure that your house is in tip-top condition before you show it to buyers: i.e the wallpaper isn't peeling off the walls, there's no mould growing in the bathroom and it doesn't smell of socks and bananas.

So tidy up. Fix anything that needs fixing. And do it all before the estate agent comes round to take a picture (or insist on a new one).

Remember, the property is about to go on a blind date with the next love of its life. It needs to look good.

What Turns Buyers On?

This is a little bit more difficult to answer.

After all, every buyer is different.  But here's what, according to my research, appeals most to buyers:

1.  A white front door. A survey by the Co-operative found that a white front door is the most desirable, followed by red, blue, green and brown. Unpopular colours, meanwhile, included pink, orange, yellow, purple and grey.

2.  A celebrity neighbour. Some pundits claim a celebrity neighbour can make a property more desirable to buyers.  Then again, it could work against you if you live next to Pete Doherty...

3.  A green home. Even environmentally unfriendly buyers know that double glazing, central heating, energy-efficient boilers and loft insulation are worth having -- so if you've got it, don't be afraid to flaunt it.

4.  A good school. According to Alliance & Leicester, schools are the single most important local amenity for house-hunters, with newsagents and pubs following close behind.

In fact I could go on forever: a brand new kitchen, a brand new bathroom, period features, a Jacuzzi, a view of a snow-capped mountain...

Related blog post

• John Fitzsimons writes:

  Is now a good time to buy for first-time buyers?

  The Stamp Duty threshold may have been raised to £250,000, but are the conditions right for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder?

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You get the picture. The list of what buyers want truly is endless. But, at the end of the day, all of it fades into the background next to the final, but most important, wish on their wishlist: a low price.

For example, my flat, when I initially saw it, had a bright red kitchen, damp in every single room and a yard covered in weeds. Did it put me off? No way -- because the price was right, which meant I could afford to put the rest right, too.

As A Last Resort, Lower Your Price

So, the harsh reality is, no matter what colour you paint your door, if you want to sell your home quickly and you can't find a buyer, you may need to lower your price.

A compromise -- as an alternative - would be to register the property with as many different estate agents as you can. The one who is successful may end up charging you a higher commission fee than they would have done, had you registered exclusively with them. Then again, on the plus side, your property will get a lot more exposure, and the agents will compete to get you a buyer.

Still, in the end, you don't need thousands of house-hunters to eye up your living room. You only need one. The right one...

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