Homeowners aged 65-plus lost a collective £5.2 billion in the past three months - equivalent to £832 each - as the continuing squeeze on mortgage availability hit house prices, Key Retirement Solutions' Pensioner Property Equity Index shows.
But there were winners with retired homeowners in the East of England, Scotland and Wales benefiting. Average over-65 homeowners in the East of England gained £2,062 in the past three months while Scots pensioners were £2,544 better off and Welsh over-65s made £45.
The biggest losers were over-65 homeowners in London who saw housing equity fall by £2,625 while those in the East Midlands suffered a £2,394 drop. Over-65s homeowners have still seen growth in their total property wealth this year - when Key Retirement launched its index in March over-65s homeowners had total equity of £765.18 billion.
Key Retirement's figures show nearly a third of property equity is owned by pensioners in London and the South East of England - in London over-65s own property without any mortgages worth £124.4 billion while in the South East pensioners own £123.8 billion of property without mortgages.
Dean Mirfin, Group Director at Key Retirement Solutions, said:
"It is almost impossible to call the trend in the property market currently with the lack of mortgage availability making it very difficult for buyers.
"However it is clear the over-65s own considerable property wealth which represents a massive investment success as they no longer have mortgages and will in most cases have bought more than 25 years ago.
"Their property wealth represents vitally important potential source of income and over-65s can unlock as much as £72,507 on average. This at today's annuity rates could alternatively produce an annual income for life of £4,725.
"When pensioner household incomes before tax are around £21,112that is a 22% increase which could have a dramatic and positive effect on standards of living."
The results below shows the 11 areas of Great Britain monitored by Key Retirement Solutions' index with just three of the regions seeing gains in the past three months.
Region Average change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between August 2010 index and November 2010 index) Combined change in value of home equity for homeowners aged 65+ (between August index and November 2010 index)
- London -£2,625 -£957.6 million
- South East -£1,830 -£1.08 billion
- South West -£4,241 -£2.79 billion
- North West -£492 -£336.6 million
- East +£2,062 +£890.78 million
- East Midlands -£2,394 -£1.03 billion
- West Midlands -£672 -£232.2 million
- Scotland +£2,544 +£744.8 million
- Yorks/Humbs -£1,627 -£442 million
- Wales +£169 +46.14 million
- North East -£45 -£12.47 million
- GREAT BRITAIN -£832 -£5.2 billion
The results below shows over-65 homeowners in the North West are most likely to own their home outright - Key Retirement's analysis shows 684,200 own their homes without mortgages compared with 657,800 in the South West.
However higher property prices in the South East and London means over-65 homeowners there have more property wealth.
Region Estimated property equity in homes owned outright by people aged 65+ (end November 2010) Estimated percentage of total value of property equity belonging to people aged 65+ (end November 2010) Number of households in the region owned outright by people aged 65+
- London £124.43 billion 16.16% 364,800
- South East £123.82 billion 16.09% 590,000
- South West £116.37 billion 15.12% 657,800
- North West £80.64 billion 10.48% 684,200
- East £77.38 billion 10.05% 432,000
- East Midlands £55.15 billion 7.17% 433,400
- West Midlands £46.8 billion 6.08% 345,600
- Scotland £46.56 billion 6.05% 292,800
- Yorks/Humbs £34.31 billion 4.46% 271,700
- Wales £33.97 billion 4.41% 273,000
- North East £30.28 billion 3.93% 277,200
