How much is your home really worth?

House prices in England rose by an average of 8.4% in 2013, according to the latest figures from Nationwide Building Society.

This price rise means the average home is currently valued at £175,826.

Despite the rise, average house prices remain 5% below their peak reached in late 2007.

There are also big regional differences in house prices, with annual house price growth of 14.9% in the final quarter compared with a year earlier in London.

Here in Cranleigh, for the GU6 postcode, the average property is valued at £376,819.

We would expect to see rising house prices as a result of low interest rates, government intervention, limited supply in the property market and a recovering economy.

Rising house prices often feed through into improved consumer confidence; we feel wealthier when our houses are rising in value and are more likely to spend our money as a result.

But just how much is your home really worth?

In a sense, you never really know until you actually sell your property and achieve a given value for the asset. This is also the only time it becomes liquid wealth, although you are likely to need to spend some or all of the proceeds on another place to live.

One useful tool for determining the value of your property is the Calnea Analytics, accessed for free via their consumer website Mouseprice.

This website offers a valuation estimate as well as a value range and rental estimates.

Calnea is the same desktop valuation system used by many mortgage lenders to determine the value of the properties on which they lend. In our experience, it provides a very realistic valuation.

Of course knowing the value of your biggest asset is only one step in building a comprehensive Financial Plan for the future.

What are you going to do with this information once you have it?

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