Life in 1959
How times have changed (or have they?!)
"The last 50 years have witnessed some remarkable developments in the UK housing market," says Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax.
A Halifax study considers the state of the market in the half century from 1959 to 2009.
Harold Macmillan led the Conservatives to General Election victory - two years after telling the country they had "never had it so good"
- Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin both had two number one UK singles
- The price of the average UK home was £2,507
- About 14% of homes did not have an inside toilet
Margaret Thatcher was voted in as MP for Finchley in 1959, and it was her government's Right to Buy policy when she was prime minister in the 1980s that brought about one of the most significant shifts in the market.
Four big house price booms have occurred in the last 50 years, the research concluded. They were: 1971-73, 1977-80, 1985-89 and 1998-2007.
In a sign that buyers might be getting more for their money now, the proportion of households without an inside toilet fell from 14% in 1960 to 0.2% in 1996.
A basic hot water supply features in all homes, unlike 22% of them in 1967, and central heating has also become the norm.
The average home has almost quadrupled in value, having risen by 273% since 1959 in real terms, the Halifax found. In today's money, a typical home would have cost about £43,000 in 1959.
Bill McClintock, chairman of the Property Ombudsman, has been in the housing business for 50 years and says he bought his first home - a four-bedroom house in Winchester - for £3,400 in 1965.
"Even back in the 60s people aspired to own their own home," he says.
Whether or not you are old enough to remember what life was like in 1959, you probably have your own thoughts about the speed and impact of change. As for the next five decades, who can say what new developments they may bring? In Giroma's own opinion, property values are likely to continue their historical trend upwards (allowing for small wiggles along the way), so it makes sense to take a long view when investing.