ADP

Stationery -> falling here in southampton Id say, however lots of new flats being built and all being sold - though then rented back on. Mate of mine however just rented here and he had the pick of whatever he wanted - agents said there are just too many people trying to rent flats out and not enough punters.

NewLabour

25%? my friend's had his house in Wells up for sale now for 9 months with price reductions and **** all interest.
His friends flat in a prime area of Bristol won't sell either and both are in the property game so should know how to work it to their advantage.

Of course 12 month old data could be hiding the truth of the matter at the moment............

Flatcapdriver

As I said earlier, there is a ripple effect out from the South East which is seeing a decline in the average purchase price and this will spread to other parts of the country. Selling prices are very different to asking prices and given that I've bought and sold five properties in the South East in the last two years and the most recent ones have been for a lot less than the asking price I've got a far better idea than most as to what is happening. Inevitably, there will be some areas that will not reflect the average slow decline happening at present but if people's confidence in the economy dips even further, then house prices will follow.

During the recent house price boom, it was the South East where prices rocketed first followed by the rest of the country and this was replicated during the last two boom/recession cycles so I can't see why it won't be the same case now especially given that more of the wealth is concentrated in this area than ever before.

As for the original question as to why it appears that houses are going on the market all of a sudden it's because people were waiting until after the General Election and this combined with the beginning of the selling season is why so many properties are coming on to the market.

Dream Weaver

I must be seeing things round here then with all the sold and under offer signs and prices continuing to rise, too much coffee or something

jasey

Get him to remove Tony Blairs mural from the living room - it'll be putting of potential buyers.

.

Flatcapdriver

Evidently you didn't read my post?

Petem95

25% up over the last year in the South West? LOL!! I think not!! (or do you mean South Wales?? - some areas there have seen these sorts of rises) Ive been keeping a close eye on property prices over the last 2-3years in the North Somerset area, and theres no way on earth prices (or even asking prices) have gone up 25%.

A friend only earlier this week had an offer accepted on a 1bed flat for 160k (asking price was 165k), and it was sold almost exactly a year earlier for 182k. That seems fairly common, however there are still some houses going on with higher asking prices than last year, but clearly selling for less than they wouldve done last year in general.

Ted Maul

things are still mad here (north london). house opposite mine is a 4 bed semi - on the market at £575k!!

NewLabour

So when you are sat on the edge of a pond and some **** throws a rock into the middle of it the ripples reach you straight away?

Dear God some people would have difficulty working out they were under threat if a gang of hooded chavs, all wearing baseball caps and "We are going to happy bitch slap your *** and then mug you" T-Shirts came at them wielding bats.

NewLabour

Is it selling though Mr Maul? If it did at what price?

Ted Maul

not yet, but the house next to me did quite quickly, that was a 4 bed detached that went for £725k. It's a sought after suburb pocket though so still seeing increases.. its the kind of place with green belt all around and no room/permission for building blocks of flats etc that causes overcrowding.

NewLabour

I think for premium living you are always going to be pay a subsequent fiscal premium so I could well imagine that to be the case.

However even at those rareified heights there has been a slow down and increase in availability and quality which are probably as important as punative price reductions.

Slartibartfast

Good. Glad to see the these sorts catching a cold.

It's the amateur speculators and parasitic estate agents that are responsible for driving prices to unsustainable highs.

fitzscoob

not sure about that, I for one am under the belief that after sept 11 and the stock market dropped lots of people took their money out of shares and bought extra property to rent off. increasing the cycle of sale on demand.

Flatcapdriver

I disagree. The estate agents set a price that they believe the market can sustain but as I said earlier it's only a guide price which is only reflected in what people are prepared to pay. If purchasers aren't prepared to pay the price, then down it comes so you can't just blame a relatively small number of people who bought buy to lets for the drastic property inflation over the last decade or so.

StickyMicky

i drove past it today, it still has its windows and is not burnt out

StickyMicky

seams to be a few cheapies kicking around percy main lol

chris's scooby

It all seems to be picking up again down here (East Sussex).

jjones

just repeating what was on the local news. i have no facts or proof other than it was reported on the local news. single cases of "my mate john did x, y, z " do not prove anything.

P1Fanatic

Same old crap, different day. It must be 2 yrs + since people on here started saying the housing market bubble will burst and thenthey are going to make their move.

We bought as FTBs last july and are glad we made the move. We were renting a small 2 bed back to back terrace for £650 a month. Our mortgage is £300 more than that but we now have a 3yr old 3 bed semi with bigger everything, garden and garage. We are also in a lot better area.

The main advantages to owning are that you can do what you like in it and to it. And the fact I am not pissing £650 a month up the wall to help pay someone elses mortage off.

Luckily we had a big deposit and relocation from work which helped us out.

Simon.

Petem95

Its 2 years since it should've burst, but the craze in BTL has resulted in even more money pouring into the housing market, and created 'the mother of all bubbles', and bigger bubble just means a bigger bust. Just look at IT shares in the late 90's - everyone kept saying they would crash, but they kept on rising so people bought anyway because they didnt want to miss out on the huge returns...... then they did bust... in a BIG way.

If you can afford the mortgage payments, and would still have no trouble when interest rates return to nearer there long-term norm then thats fine - like you say, nicer to own the place so you can do what you want to it etc. If you plan on staying there for 10years+ then the value of the place probably isnt important, but fact of the matter is it will probably be worth 30% less than what you paid for it at some point.

GCollier

The affordability of housing at the moment is above its historical average, but it's not as high as a lot of people like to make out. The risk of a sharp downturn being caused by markedly higher interest rates is probably minor. Inflation could be a bit of a worry, but the long term predictions on interest rates are currently pretty benign. I also think a lot of the scare-mongering about the economy is just that, and a lot of the fundamentals remain pretty strong.

Confidence of buyers though is another thing, and the recent successive rises in interest rates and warnings by the Bank of England seem to have hit home. There seem to be a lot of property in the 'trading up' bracket (400k-600k) which is sticking around.

In terms of the return on buy to let, well other asset classes are providing a better return on capital, so I really can't see prices continuing to be fuelled by buy to let investors.

Gary.

StickyMicky

all i know and care about, is theres cheap houseing around these parts, and there never used to be

well not for a long time

camk

Simon how much is your interest verus the rent, surely interest payments to a bank is just as wasted as payments to a landlord.

P1Fanatic

Not honestly sure without digging docs out. Somehow I dont think its 65% of my mortgage payment, do you? So how can it be the same as payments to a landlord.

As a renter I was paying less but for a lot smaller property. If I wanted to rent the same spec house now I would be paying more than I do for a mortgage. And not one penny of it would I ever see again. Whereas in 25 years I will 100% own a house barring any problems between now and then.

Simon.

TopBanana

More like 95% if you're at the beginning of a 25yr mortgage!