Britain's 'knowsiest' neighbours revealed
- Shropshire residents lead in the curtain twitching stakes -
New data out today shows that residents in the West Midlands county of Shropshire are the nation's 'knowsiest' neighbours, revealing that they do more research on house prices and are more up-to-date on their local property market than people anywhere else in Britain.
Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's leading property valuation website, created the 'Knowsiness Index' based on the number of unique property value searches conducted per visit to its website over the past six months. The current market downturn has further demonstrated the nation's insatiable appetite for house price data, with Zoopla.co.uk being the fastest growing property website in the UK, recording over a search per second on its website.
Shropshire residents came out on top as the property-savviest in Britain, doing more homework on current property values, sold prices and local statistics than anywhere else. Residents here average 3.98 searches per visit, well above the national average of 3.36.
Also amongst the 'knowsiest' neighbours demonstrating their property smarts were residents of neighbouring Herefordshire, who conduct 3.85 searches per visit and Warwickshire coming in with 3.79.
Overall, homeowners in England were revealed as being much more 'in the know' when it comes to their local property market than in either Wales or Scotland, with an average of 3.42 searches per visit in England versus 3.18 and 3.05 for Wales and Scotland respectively.
Top Ten Curtain-Twitchers in Britain
Area | Searches per visit | 'Knowsiness' Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3.98 | 117.5 | |
2 | 3.85 | 113.8 | |
3 | 3.79 | 112.1 | |
4 | 3.72 | 109.8 | |
5 | 3.71 | 109.7 | |
6 | 3.64 | 107.5 | |
7 | 3.61 | 106.7 | |
8 | 3.60 | 106.6 | |
9 | 3.59 | 106.3 | |
10 | 3.58 | 106.1 |
Perhaps unsurprisingly given higher property prices, the results show that homeowners in Southern and Central England carry out more research than their counterparts in Northern England, Scotland and Wales. More surprisingly however, Londoners were noticeably absent from the top of the list, coming in at 27th place in the 'Knowsiness Index', indicating a lack of vital research and value monitoring in a location where prices reach their peak.
Top Five Curtain-Twitchers in Scotland
Area | Searches per visit | 'Knowsiness' Index |
3.35 | 99.1 | |
3.23 | 95.4 | |
3.05 | 90.2 | |
3.02 | 89.4 | |
Ayrshire | 3.01 | 89.3 |
Scottish residents fall well behind when it comes to doing their homework on the local property market and potentially risk losing thousands of pounds through poorly-informed property decisions. Identified as the least-savvy property researchers in Britain, Stirlingshire residents came in last place conducting only 2.49 searches per visit. Whilst Aberdeenshire locals led the pack in Scotland, carrying out 3.35 searches, the results there were still below the national average showing a lack of property-led research.
Top Five Curtain-Twitchers in Wales
Area | Searches per visit | 'Knowsiness' Index |
|---|---|---|
3.60 | 106.6 | |
3.30 | 97.6 | |
3.02 | 89.2 | |
Carmarthenshire | 2.92 | 86.3 |
2.55 | 75.3 |
Welsh residents scored slightly better, led by the 'knowsy' residents in the North Wales county of Denbighshire, who came in 8th place overall with 3.60 searches per visit. At the other end of the index, Monmouthshire residents were near the bottom in 53rd place, falling short in the research stakes.
Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk, commented:
"Long gone are the days when being 'knowsy' about property values was taboo. It's easy to understand why property values are a national obsession when one considers how much of the average person's wealth is tied up in the value of their home. With so much data now publicly available, if anything, not doing your own homework puts you at a direct disadvantage in the property game, especially in the current climate. Our unique database of all 27 million UK homes allows users to freely research current property values and prices paid on any home - theirs or anyone else's - along with local stats and value trends. Never before has keeping up with the Jones's been so easy or essential."
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
Notes to Editor
Top Twenty Areas with 'Knowsiest' Neighbours in Britain in full
Area | Searches per visit | 'Knowsiness' Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3.98 | 117.5 | |
2 | 3.85 | 113.8 | |
3 | 3.79 | 112.1 | |
4 | 3.72 | 109.8 | |
5 | 3.71 | 109.7 | |
6 | 3.64 | 107.5 | |
7 | 3.61 | 106.7 | |
8 | 3.60 | 106.6 | |
9 | 3.59 | 106.3 | |
10 | 3.58 | 106.1 | |
11 | 3.58 | 105.8 | |
12 | 3.56 | 105.3 | |
13 | Middlesex | 3.55 | 104.9 |
14 | 3.54 | 104.7 | |
15 | 3.52 | 104.1 | |
16 | 3.50 | 103.4 | |
17 | 3.46 | 102.3 | |
18 | 3.46 | 102.3 | |
19 | 3.44 | 101.8 | |
20 | 3.42 | 101.1 |
- Ends -
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