"Those looking to sell in a haunted location may find the task of finding a buyer and achieving a good price all that bit harder. Not only are a great deal of buyers deterred from even considering a ‘haunted house’ purchase, but those who are brave enough would offer below asking price"
- Verona Frankish - Yopa
National estate agency, Yopa, has found that selling a haunted house this Halloween could result in a frightful asking price reduction of 10% - equating to a loss of almost £30,000 on the current average UK house price. Perhaps this is why only 25% of sellers would admit to potential buyers that their house was haunted.
Yopa commissioned a survey of UK homebuyers and sellers to gauge their thoughts and feelings on a haunted house purchase, as well as looking at the average price of property across eight famous haunted areas and how they compare to the wider market.
Yopa found that just a quarter of home sellers would admit to potential buyers that their house was haunted when looking to sell. What’s more, 44% of the homebuyers surveyed by Yopa said that they would avoid viewing a property if they knew it was haunted.
42% would be put off from submitting an offer even if they liked the property, while as many as 57% said they would purposely put in a lower offer due to the fact that a property was supposedly haunted.
32% stated they would shave up to 10% off the asking price, while 46% felt that offering up to 20% less was appropriate given the addition of ghosts or ghouls.
For those looking to sell a haunted house, further research by Yopa suggests that a 10% asking price reduction is an appropriate compromise.
Yopa analysed house prices across postcodes of eight of the UK’s most haunted locations and how they compare to the wider local authority.
The figures show that on average, haunted postcode house prices sit at an average of £266,245, while the average across the wider local authorities is £295,696. This means that sellers can expect to secure 10% less on average when looking to sell a haunted home, equating to just under £30,000 on the current UK average house price of £291,044.
The worst of the bunch is Pendle Hill in Lancashire. Home to the 12 Pendle Witches who were hanged at Lancaster Castle in 1612 and buried on the hill, it’s said they still roam the village today.
The average house price in the BB9 postcode of Pendle is £97,630, some -28% below the wider average of £136,215 across Pendle as a whole.
CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish, commented: “The UK property market can be a scary place to be for sellers, with buyer demand having dwindled this year and house prices cooling in recent months.
"The good news is that these reductions have been marginal and the market remains in great health despite the chill of the wider economic picture.
"However, those looking to sell in a haunted location may find the task of finding a buyer and achieving a good price all that bit harder. Not only are a great deal of buyers deterred from even considering a ‘haunted house’ purchase, but those who are brave enough would offer below the asking price.
"No surprise then, that just a quarter of sellers would be upfront about any paranormal house guests when attempting to shift their haunted home in the current market.”
