Property not top for price rises in past 40 years

Online estate agent eMoov.co.uk has matched property prices against a number of other costs over the past 40 years and results indicate it’s not just property which has seen an extreme jump in price.

Harold Wilson won the general election with Labour back in 1974 and since that that day property prices in the UK have seen an average rise of 1879%. In 74 the average property price was just under £10,000 and this has risen to over £185,000 in 2014. Wages have also increased during this time however the gap between wage and property price has grown. Wages over the past 40 years have increased from £32 to £517 for an average weekly wage.

Property is only ranked fifth in the bigger price rises in the past 40 years with wages in sixth in the eMoov price rise statistics.

It’s 40 years ago this month that McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the UK. Back in 1974 a Big Mac would have cost customers at its first UK restaurant in Woolwich 40 pence. These days a BigMac would set you back £2.69, a rise of 673%.

Ford launched the Escort Mark II at the same time with the cost of £1299 for this iconic model. These days a Ford Focus hatchback would cost you £13,995 a rise of 1077% and ranked 10th.

A pint of lager at your local pub was 20p, a far cry from today’s average of £3.19. Back then you could also smoke in the pub and a pack of 20 cigarettes was 20p. Cigarettes sales peaked in 1974 and since then have seen an enormous amount of taxation and with an increase of 4370% on the price. This rise means they top the table from the research by eMoov.

Other items to be priced up in this research included cinema tickets which have seen a 2133% rise however if you look at central London ticket prices of £15 in Leicester Square, the rise could be as high as 3444%. Mars bar prices have increased over 1300% however the size of the bar has slimmed down. The Daily Mail was ranked number 2 with price up 3000% and 1st class stamps up 2067%.

In the mid 1970s Atari launched with the iconic pong game. Jump forward 40 years and prices for the regular games console such as the PS2 has grown by 574%.

Back in 1974 many people simply couldn’t afford holidays abroad and long haul flights were more of an expense. With fierce competition in the aviation industry over the past four decades, prices for flights have only grow by a modest 482%.

Russell Quirk, CEO of estate agent eMoov.co.uk, said: “Across the UK it has been well documented the rise on property price, however when you look at other items it’s actually more in-line with other expenses than most would think.

“The internet was just an idea back in 1974, however with the growth of digital businesses, the good news for property sellers these days is selling property with an online agent has seen estate agency costs rise just 398% during this time period.”