House prices: the average home has risen by 47,000 per cent in the Queen's lifetime
In the month that the Queen turns 90, new research has revealed that house prices have risen by the incredible amount of 47,000 per cent during her lifetime - a 471-fold increase.
When the Queen was born in Mayfair in 1926, the average house in Britain cost just £619, while today that figure is just above £290,000.
In comparison, a pint of milk cost the equivalent of 1.3p in 1926 and is only 42p today. If it had risen in line with property prices it would cost £612.57.
Most agree that another 471 fold increase in house prices over the next 90 years is exceedingly unlikely. However, if prices do rise at an average of 6.7 per cent a year - the average rate during the last 23 years - estate agent Jackson-Stops & Staff, who carried out the research, predicted that on Prince Charles’ ninetieth birthday in 2038, the average house will cost almost £1.3 million while on Prince William’s same birthday, in 2072, that figure will be £11.3 million.
Prince George was only born in 2013 and on his ninetieth birthday the average price is predicted to be £86 million.
The average cost of buying in every borough (Land Registry, March 2016)
House prices have outperformed gold, which rose from £4.25 an ounce to £876 - in the same period, and shares, which rose 11,685 per cent.
Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops & Staff, said: “It is not the fact that property has outperformed over the last 90 years that is surprising, but the sheer scale of it.
“The reason for the phenomenal growth is that we are an overcrowded island with a growing, wealthy population who have an ingrained desire for homeownership. This growth in demand then meets a rigid wall of fixed supply that compounds the pressure on house prices to rise.
“Lack of new-build homes continues to be a pivotal issue and until more homes are built more house price rises are inevitable.”
In London, prices have risen an average of 8.3 per cent a year over the last 23 years. Using this rate, the average London house will cost £3.5 million in 2038, £52.4 million in 2072 and a mind-boggling £667 million by 2103.
The house price rises have not been at a steady pace and between 1926 and the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the average house price rose by just £40, to £659.
By 1953, the year of the Queen’s coronation, the price of the average house was £2,006 and by 1966, when England won the World Cup, it was £3,840. In 1976, the price had risen to £12,704 and in 1986 to £36,276.
By 1996, the average house cost £69,889. Over the next 10 years, prices rose by 276 per cent, to £192,648 and in the following 10 years by a comparatively modest 51 per cent, to today's figure of £291,505.
How the cost of five supermarket shopping trolley items have changed over the past 90 years:
| Item | Quantity | Price 1926 | Price 2016 | Percentage rise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 pint | 1.3p | 42p | 3,131% |
| Bread | Medium white loaf | 1.8p | £1.12 | 6,122% |
| Butter | 250g | 5.3p | £1.34 | 2,428% |
| Sugar | 1kg | 3.2p | 61p | 1,806% |
| Cheddar | 1kg | 13p | £7.28 | 5,500% |
Source: ONS 1926 and February 2016
House price figures were compiled from Office for National Statistics data and the Winton Institute for Monetary History at Oxford university.