Home value appreciation

The 1050 foot 1910 semi-detached house we sold in 2003 for $360,000 has just come on the market for $499,000. Lets see what's changed in that time, based on the advertising copy for each of the sales

2005
This handsome circa 1900s half house has been totally renovated while retaining its charming period details... Featuring sparkling refinished hardwood floors, a delightful turned staircase, plaster walls, high ceilings, a welcoming front porch and walk-up attic.

2003
...a home solidly built in 1910... Hardwood floors are featured throughout...

2005
You will be delighted with the light-filled living room and dining room.

2003
(Passed over in silence. All this light must have been an effect of the putative renovation, cuz it was dark when we lived there).

2005
A fenced back yard with gorgeous English country perennial gardens.
(just plain not true.)

2003
It overlooks a spacious fenced yard, shared with its neighboring unit.

If the house appreciates in line with houses in Princeton Borough, it will sell for $445,000. So that's about 50 grand worth of adjectives and possibly spurious claims. Admittedly, we ourselves did list for an aspirational (and quirky) $418,900, and then came down about the same amount.

Adjectives, of course, are valuable in New Jersey. Restaurant menus, for example, use adjectives to account for high prices.