Historical House Price- Red Flag?

[Armitage Shanks]

I'm looking to buy my first house. I've gone on a massive trawl of right move in the area I'm interested in and come up with a list of properties to view. Just been going through Mouseprice/Zoopla looking at all the historical info...

One house has got a very odd set of historical data. Namely

Property history
13 Oct 12 Added to site 208 days ago
initial price £121,995 24 Aug 07
Sold for £61,344 16 Feb 06
Sold for £119,995 22 Oct 04

That's one heck of a price drop in 2006. I'm wondering why..Then I note it was sold STC back in Feb then back on the market again a month or so ago. I'm wondering if the potential new buyer had a survey done and found out it needed expensive work doing and pulled out. I'm thinking I shouldn't be touching this house with someone else's 40ft barge pole. Just wondering if I'm reading this right...

 

[Nightglow]

A few more details would help, number of bedrooms, brick built, other material, is it terraced or detached & how old is house.

 

[Armitage Shanks]

Its a 2-bed, brick terraced house. Not too sure how to work out exact age without paying for land registry details(?). Its definitely an older house, I'd guess early 1900's, will see if I can find out a more exact age..

 

[Nightglow]

Its a 2-bed, brick terraced house. Not too sure how to work out exact age without paying for land registry details(?). Its definitely an older house, I'd guess early 1900's, will see if I can find out a more exact age..

1900's is close enough.

House might have been repossessed & sold at auction back in 2006 might be one reason, many others.

 

[casual_eze]

be careful. without knowing much details at all, 2006 was still near the property price bubble high and so even as a repo the price is terribly low. Also a warning that it hasnt been lived in for a very long time. What could be the reason? neighbours? local area? something else?

 

[Maccapacca]

could have been a total loss, fire or flood damage or could just be a typo

 

[ci_newman]

I wouldn't write the house off based purely on that data, speak to the selling agent and ask them about it. It was last sold almost 6 years ago, and a lot changes in that time.

 

[the shadow]

 

[Adam]

Approach with caution but don't discount it entirely. The house is worth what someone is willing to pay. Chances are you'll never find the true reason for the low sale cost. As long as it's structurally sound and in a good location etc then why rule it out entirely? Worth a look anyway.