Everyone indulges in browsing a property website every now and again (at CPS Homes we’re particularly fond of beautiful houses and flats), but would you consider yourself addicted to property? According to new figures released by Direct Line Home Insurance, 2.6 million people in the UK are self-confessed "property addicts", and if you live in Cardiff, you may be more likely to be a property addict than others in the UK.
A property addict is someone who goes online to browse houses and flats at least once a day, and it seems that Cardiff is home to the 4th highest number of addicts in the UK, with 65% of people admitting to indulging in a bit of property-hunting on a daily basis.
Cardiff is just behind Sheffield (74%), London (72%) and Newcastle (70%) in the rankings, but if you are a self-confessed addict then worry not! 63% of the general population admit to window shopping for properties on a regular basis.
The reasons people tend to indulge in no-committal house hunting vary: some people like to keep an eye out on changing house prices, others get design inspiration; there are also people who search for their fantasy home, and a lot of people search for £1m+ properties just see what property they can buy if they were ever to win the Lottery.
One thing that people really enjoy doing though, is snooping.
Yes, it’s true, as a nation we’re really into snooping on people we know, with 38% of people admitting to snooping and checking the property prices of friends and family, or to see design decisions that neighbours have made. This is especially true when a property is put on the market.
While friends and family should be concerned that they’re being snooped on via property websites, with 38% and 31% of people admitting that those were the key targets for snooping respectively, it is actually neighbours who most draw our curiosity, with 52% of people having a sneaky look at houses they see on a daily basis.
People should definitely be cautious about telling work colleagues when they’ve put a property up for sale if they like their privacy, because over a fifth of work colleagues (21%) use their lunch break to find out more about their colleague’s property.
In fact, it’s likely that a snooper will check out the property of any person who enters their life, with 10% saying they look for property details of new partners, and 9% saying they’ve looked at the current property of ex-lovers.
If you think property addiction is taking up too much of your free time, then to overcome it, make sure you set a specific amount of time on certain days to indulge, and gradually reduce your use of estate agent websites.
As a Cardiff estate agency, we’re happy to help you indulge in window shopping for your dream property.
We have a range of beautiful Cardiff properties for sale, so whether you’re just browsing in your spare time, looking for an investment opportunity, or are thinking about moving home, we’re sure to have something you’ll fall in love with.
For more information about any of our properties, contact us today via email: enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk, or visit us in branch in Cathays, Roath or Cardiff Bay.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.