House Prices Report for Devon - December 2009 to December 2010
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions.
The housing market is awash with statistics. Should we rely on them?
This rather colourful term was popularised in the United States by Mark Twain (amongst others), who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881): "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." However, the phrase is not found in any of Disraeli's works and the earliest known appearances were years after his death. Other coiners have therefore been proposed. The most plausible, given current evidence, is Englishman Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911).
Not all houses are the same
This report displays the average property sale price for each type of property in Devon for each month from December 2009 to December 2010. The second graph displays the number of properties sold each month in Devon. House prices appear to have risen in the winter and the summer don't they? Is that the case all over Devon then? Statistics only tell us so much. The first graph is for the whole of Devon. What if we repeat the exercise for a smaller area, say Kingsbridge (below)?
Owners sometimes forget that a good property can be sold for a good price even when everything around it is floundering. A good estate agent can make this happen.
Antony Stumbles of our Kingsbridge office is such an estate agent. Read his commentary here.
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