For anyone who may be struggling to buy a house, or even think it is never going to be possible, I understand you.
Many of us Millennials and Gen-Z are constantly told by older generations that they had it “tough” and houses were expensive in their day too.
But comparatively, just how tough did the older generations have it?
Did they have to take literal leap over the Grand Canyon and sell internal organs to attempt to get even a finger on the housing ladder.
I managed to get my hands on an ancient relic of a housing brochure from 2002, I was left somewhat shell shocked and filled with envy from the findings.
Now I appreciate that wages, interest rates and everything has somewhat changed since the early 00’s, but has it been kept in line?
House Prices Then
I have located Cowley Groves Ramsey property listings from November 2002, and it has a fair few properties under the £100,000 mark.
We will start with a second floor flat in Ramsey located on Mooragh Promenade, this one bed one bath was on the market at £59,950.
There was also a second floor bedsit on the same promenade for £35,000.
If your budget was over the £100,000 mark, lets up it to £300,000 and see what you could get yourself then:
For under £300,000 in 2002, you’d have had the options of a three bedroom detached house in Ballaugh with with one ensuite and a garage for £249,500.
Or you could locate to Maughold and purchase a detached four bedroom bungalow with parking and a garage for £275,000.
Mortgage Payments Then
With just those four properties in mind; the average wage in 2002 was around £24,000, and interest rates weren’t too dissimilar to now at around 4%.
Over a 30 year period, with an interest of 4% and each prospective buyer putting a 10% deposit down and each earning around £2,000 a month (before tax) here is the breakdown:
- One bed flat in Ramsey at £59,950: The down payment would be £5,995 with a monthly repayment of around £258.
- Bedsit at £35,000: The down payment would be £3,500 with a monthly repayment of around £150.
- Three bedroom detached house in Ballaugh at £249,500: The down payment would be £24,950 with a monthly repayment of around £1,072.
- Maughold detached four bedroom bungalow at £275,000: The down payment would be £27,500 with a monthly repayment of around £1,182.
Buying a House in 2025
The average wage now is around £35,000, and interest rates are now at around 4.75%.
I’ve tried to find some similar properties to what I based by 2002 results on, so lets take a dive.
A one bedroom flat on Mooragh promenade for £100,000 – in my opinion, this is on the very cheap side as most one bedroom flats on the island seem to be around the £150,000 mark.
A bedsit? Cannot find one.
I have located a three bedroom property in Ballaugh that isn’t detached nor has an ensuite but does have a garage, and it costs £399,950.
Looking at Maughold there is a four bedroom, two bathroom with a garage and parking, although it is semi-detached that costs £600,000.
Do The Math
Over a 30 year period, with an interest of 4.75% and each prospective buyer putting a 10% deposit down and each earning around £2,900 a month (before tax) here is the breakdown:
One bedroom flat on Mooragh promenade for £100,000: The down payment would be £10,000 with a monthly repayment of around £470.
Three bedroom property in Ballaugh for £399,950: The down payment would be £39,995 with a monthly repayment of around £1,877.
Four bedroom house in Maughold at £600,000: The down payment would be £60,000 with a monthly repayment of around £2,817.
Who Has it Worse?
You could argue with it the sums infront of you there, its actually fairly similar.
In 2002 and 2025 those with the three bed properties would have £1000 left over at the end of the month.
However, what you can no longer find is affordable housing.
Most properties that were once around £200,000 are now being valued at way over double that and often are in excess of £450,000.
Although wages have increased over the past twenty years, they haven’t doubled – and if both of the three bed and four bed were detached like their elders in 2002 they’d be worth significantly more.
For example, a four bedroom house with a garage and garden would now cost you between £500,00 to £600,000.
An article in the Telegraph last year found that a detached property was worth 60% more than it’s conjoined counter part, the semi-detached.
With that in mind, do the math. Yes elders, it was tough for you. But nowhere near as tough as it is for us.
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