Surreal Real Estate Prices: Zoopla.co.uk's 2011 Property Rich List

LONDON, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Britain's Property Rich List 2011, released today by leading property website Zoopla.co.uk, reveals Kensington, London W8, to be by far the most expensive neighbourhood in the country to live, with average house prices there standing at almost pounds 1.75 million.

Britain is now home to 220,131 Property Millionaires, down from 223,119 this time last year, and has 5,922 Million Pound Streets, where average house prices are over pounds 1 million. London tops the list of places with the most Million Pound Streets by far with 2,290, followed by commuter hotspot Guildford with 89 and footballer's paradise, Cobham, in third place with 78.

The average home for sale in Kensington now costs pounds 1,737,862 according to the study by Zoopla.co.uk, which provides free online value estimates for every home in the UK. And whilst this is pounds 400,000 more than its nearest rival Chelsea, SW3 where the average pad will set you back pounds 1.32m, all of the top five neighbourhoods on the list boast average property prices of over pounds 1m and includes Knightsbridge, SW7 (pounds 1.31m), Notting Hill, W11 (pounds 1.17m) and West Brompton, SW10 (pounds 1.05m).

The top 10 most expensive neighbourhoods in the country are almost entirely in the capital, with the only exception being seventh placed Virginia Water, Surrey GU25, home to exclusive Wentworth Golf Club, where average house prices are pounds 936,653. And nine out of the top 10 on the list have seen average house prices fall over the past 12 months, with the only exception being Hampstead, London NW3.

Topping the list of the most expensive streets in Britain once again is Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 – also known as Billionaires Row - where the average property price is a staggering pounds 19.2 million. This exclusive gated street is home to Saudi and Brunei royalty, Russian oligarchs and Britain's richest man, Lakshmi Mittal, who owns not one but three properties on the street.

But the eye-watering house prices in Britain's most expensive neighbourhoods reflect a premium for their location, not necessarily the space they offer. With the average cost per square foot in Kensington now at pounds 1,193 and the average UK house price at pounds 205,985, a move to W8 might provide a fancy address but would only get the average homeowner 173 square feet, barely enough room to swing a cat.

The most expensive area to live in Britain is Windsor & Maidenhead where average house prices stand at pounds 389,120, just ahead of the average in London (pounds 387,119). Rounding out the top 5 most expensive areas are Surrey (pounds 371,984), Hertfordshire (pounds 300,914) and Oxfordshire (pounds 284,402). Whilst more than half of the Property Millionaires in Britain reside in London, outside the capital the county with the highest number of Property Millionaires by far is Surrey with over 15,000 currently.

Nick Leeming, Business Development Director, Zoopla.co.uk said: "Despite the recent property market uncertainty, Brits remain obsessed with the value of their home as well as those of their neighbours, friends and family. This year's Property Rich List shows an ever-widening North-South divide and whilst house prices in some of the most expensive areas of the country have fallen a little over the past 12 months, they have held up far better than in many of the less expensive areas."

What pounds 1m+ can get you in some of Britain's most expensive neighbourhoods:

• Kensington (W8) – 3 bed house, Callcott Street, London W8 - pounds 1,800,000
• Chelsea (SW3) – 3 bed flat, Cadogan Gardens, Chelsea, London SW3 - pounds 1,450,000
• Knightsbridge (SW7) – 3 bed flat, Stanhope Gardens, London SW7 - pounds 1,300,000
• Virginia Water, GU25 – 4-bed house, Virginia Water, GU25 - pounds 1,150,000

For the full Zoopla.co.uk Property Rich List 2011, please visit:

www.zoopla.co.uk/richlist

About Zoopla.co.uk

Zoopla.co.uk is the UK's most comprehensive property website, focused on empowering consumers with the resources they need to make better-informed property decisions. We help our users make sense of the residential property market by combining property listings with market value data, local information and community tools.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk was founded on the principles of transparency and efficiency and everything we do aims to make the market more effective for both property consumers and professionals alike. Our mission is to provide the most useful online property experience by:

• displaying property listings along with value and price trend information
• providing rich property data and local market information in one place
• enabling users to search for property in a variety of customised ways
• allowing users to engage with professionals via our tools like AskMe!
• building relationships between home owners and local estate agents

By combining free, instant value estimates for every UK home with sold prices, local market information and hundreds of thousands of properties available for sale and to rent, Zoopla.co.uk has become the ultimate destination for property consumers to search for property and do their market research. We are the UK's fastest growing property website and are proud to have been named 'Best Property Portal 2009' (Daily Mail UK Property Awards).

Our unique features, like AskMe!™ and TemptMe!™ allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else. And our AskAnAgent feature has rapidly become one of the most valued sources of vendor leads for UK estate agents. We calculate our value estimates using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that continuously analyses millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. Our estimates are constantly refined, using the most recent data available and a variety of methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.

Zoopla Ltd is a privately held company with a highly experienced and proven management team, backed by well-respected angel investors and leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture and Octopus Ventures.

SOURCE Zoopla.co.uk