Total property wealth owned outright of by retired homeowners is up to £775 billion after average gains equivalent to £1,717 each in the past three months, according to new research from Key Retirement Solutions.

The equity release adviser’s Pensioner Property Equity Index found that homeowners aged 65-plus gained a collective £7.94 billion in the past three months despite the continuing fragility of the wider housing market due in part to weak mortgage lending.

However, pensioners in the North East lost an average £5,484 and those in the North West lost £1,643.

The biggest winners were over-65 homeowners in Scotland who gained around £12,353 on average while pensioners in the South West were £3,713 better off.

Nearly a third of property equity is owned by pensioners in London and the South East of England. In London over-65s own property without any mortgages worth £125.392 billion while in the South East pensioners own £124.9 billion of property without mortgages.

However property wealth is spread throughout Great Britain with retired homeowners in the South West holding 15.38% of the total housing equity stock and a total of £119.164 billion.

Dean Mirfin, group director at Key Retirement Solutions, said: “The housing market is fragile with the ongoing squeeze on mortgage lending hitting growth. However over-65 homeowners generally own their houses outright and have not been as affected as the rest of the market. Even those pensioners who have seen prices fall are still literally sitting on riches.