House Prices

[Tublet83]

I'm the opposite! We want an old house, over new build. Which is funny as I was completely for a new build first but after seeing how much they go for and what we get, it wasn't worth it! We are now looking for an old house in a good area with a big garden/driveway parking. We don't mind ripping it all out and starting fresh as hopefully that will only increase the value of the property in the end. My biggest peeve is the fact old houses very rarely have ensuites and only one main bathroom a lot of the time in huge houses!

Just out of curiosity's sake, what is your no.1 thing you look for in a property? Mine is, it needs to have potential to be better i.e hopefully worth more after renovations and located in a good area.

Funnily enough we have done the same bought an old house and have been renovating it room by room. Bathroom is the last major part to finish next month (went on hold with lockdown)

Our number 1 was area, we have young children and I wanted to move for school catchment. We bought a house way way more work needed then we planned but would never be able to afford a house as big of it was renovated.

 

[Homebird44]

The sooner the stamp duty changes end the better.

Richi gets so much support, but it was madness to start Stoke the housing market as it reopened and before anyone knew if it needed some petrol poured all over it.

Its helped a lot with the savings but the prices have gone mad. I'm in the south east. A new build 2 bed round the corner from me is selling for 400k.

 

[Yel]

I can't see the prices massively dropping

That is what they always say, and said back in 2008-9 just before they started falling double digits.

Most people who were going to buy have by now, I can see demand falling off a cliff as mortgage applications fall.

 

[TheWitchIsBack]

It’s obviously very difficult to say what might happen to property prices at this stage, but I think a good indication of the anticipated changes is the behaviour of the mortgage lenders. Each area will differ and places with overinflated prices will suffer most but I would imagine places that have seen slow and steady growth since 2009 will manage to stabilise relatively quickly.

There are a lot of lenders still lending at 90% (And some at 95%) so if they were expecting a significant dip I reckon this would be limited at a lower LTV. Banks can’t afford to have mortgage holders in negative equity because they would then have to manage quite a significant risk that would have implications bank wide.

I wouldn’t worry too much, but I would definitely say the power to negotiate a really good price is in your hands as I think a lot of sellers will be so worried about not being able to sell that they’ll be more open to a lower offer.

 

[Hertfordshire_home]

The market is still pretty insane. We have bid on about 4 properties over the asking price and still havent got the house. I think a lot of people are bidding over the odds to ensure they get a house before June - wouldnt be surprised if a lot came back onto the market in July for people who couldnt get it through in time.

People do seem to be paying over the odds. We are bidding knowing that we will only be in the house for max 7-10 years. We dont want to end up losing money on the house just because we overpaid during covid!

 

[Pixipoppy]

Well I can definitely say the housing market where I live has started up again with a vengance! I’ve been phoning estate agents about various properties I’ve seen which have been listed since March/April - all have gone in the last 2 days, all had several offers on them and I’m assuming went for well over the asking price. Now it looks like there’s too much demand and not enough houses - good for the rental sector I guess! So we are back to either renting for another year or buying a new build.

 

[Lanavalentine]

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550545
If anyone wouldn’t mind signing this petition to extend the stamp duty holiday an extra 6 months that would be great, thanks!

I’m not saying I wouldn’t sign it, but I’m interested in the guy’s reasoning that without the stamp duty cut, many people cannot afford a house?

I would have thought mortgages with 90% LTV all but disappearing from the market is the real issue here? I can’t imagine many people are in the same situation he is, especially since it pertains specifically to purchasing a new build, but I don’t know.

 

[Yel]

Just saw this in the DM:

Britain's mini housing boom: Stamp duty cut adds £30,000 to average property asking price with sales up 20% as house-hunters battle to buy before six-month tax break ends

#

Typical mail clickbait stuff "asking prices up" and sales up 20% compares to when? Easy to cherry pick things to create a headline.

There's not really a story in saying it's looking uncertain, come back in a few months when we'll have real data for a real story.

One thing that I think keeps getting overlooked is the demographics have changed so much, so there's less of a will to keep prices high as the have nots keep growing. Not that they have many fiscal tools left to prop up the market as they used them all in the last recession and we were a long way off recovering from that.

Most liked comments:

1. So potentially "save" 15,000 on stamp duty, but pay 30,000 extra for a property due to the stamp duty cut. Are people really going for this? Lol
2. In the past there has always been a last minute boom before the bust. Can anyone else remember all the gazumping etc. of the Summer of 1988? With growing numbers of job loses still to come it is a brave person who buys a house today.
3. Unless you have a very hyper safe job there is no way you should be taking on more credit. Remember just because it is available it does not mean you have to use it.

 

[Tiantian1005]

Currently in the process of selling up and buying a new place... posted on this thread just before we went on the market. We got offers very quickly and easily on our place, bang on asking price.

Now we’re trying to buy, and there is a fair bit of competition. The interesting thing is that everyone is walking away if a seller tries to force a bidding war, so we’re not getting into crazy territory like what was happening a couple of years ago. Still, considering we’re looking at houses in the £850-900k range, the level of competition and how quickly some are going is a bit surprising given where we think the country will be within six months.

Then again, we’re happily buying as we’re in a strong financial position, so maybe I’m underestimating how many others are in a strong position too?

You would be surprised how many people have cash to throw around and are financially secured during the pandemic. A colleague of mine who makes around 600k mark a year himself went to burford to house hunt a few weeks ago said all the 1.5mio mark houses went as soon as listed. Same in west London where I live as well. People who really benefit from this stamp duty freeze are professional landlords. I know a few are buying whatever they can see in the same development.

 

[Yel]

Nationwide index up 1.7% for July, so reversing the previous months falls.

It's still a waiting game to see what will happen, inflation or deflation?

Unpopular with many but I'm happy to see the winding down of furlough, not to wish anyone hardship but it's delaying the inevitable and could make the hardship worse. Although it's only going to cost an employer an average of £70 a month for August (apparently). I expect consultations on redundancies will really be ramping up in the coming weeks.

 

[HoGi]

'Bedroom tax ' is only for people who claim housing benefit. If a council tenant pays their rent out of their wages / pension it doesn't apply to them , even if they have a spare bedroom

Which is fair enough, but the rents are still far far lower than private renting. And when you have someone living alone or as a couple in a 3 bedroom home it doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Pixipoppy]

I don't think high LTV mortgages are coming back, there's some more 10% LTV products around but these are said to be harder to get approved and the new baseline seems to be 15% LTV

End of the day house prices are largely based on how easy it is to get credit. BOE predict they will fall 20% if interest rates go up just 1% and in one year they were cut by 5%.

Who knows what will happen. It's just about waiting now.

They will come back eventually I don’t know anyone who managed to buy their first house with a 15% deposit. The whole housing market will grind to a halt if no one can get on the property ladder. It feels like a football match and no one will pass you the ball

 

[Lanavalentine]

I was 90% of the way to completing a shared ownership purchase last summer before backing out. The affordability criteria is well off - the mortgage + rent was in excess of what I am paying for rent + bills in a more central location in my city right now as opposed to a neighbouring village. They also didn't let me view the property or put in more than a 10% deposit (I could've put in up to 50% on the share and then paid off the share in a couple of years). They can also raise the rent at any time and selling on can take ages. Seemed a waste of time so I just decided to pull out, wasn't worth it.

Seems a way for developers to keep income trickling in over time instead of letting people actually own the homes they live in.

That is shocking. Full on scam.

 

[Yel]

Buy to let is the dream for so many, they imagine sitting at home while other people go out all day to work to pay them. A return to landed gentry, just as long as they are the owners and don't need to work. It's ghastly.

This buy to let / gambling on mortgage debt won't last. It's so easy to tax an asset like that and the tax rules have already changed significantly.

I'm surprised that already the government is talking about tax rises and targeting 2nd home owners. That's going to have a downward pressure on house prices. Also it's making furlough less likely to be extended now people are being reminded it has to be paid back.

 

[Lanavalentine]

We bought a new place earlier in the pandemic (have written about it on this thread). Moved earlier this year.

The market was busy when we were looking last summer, but there was about enough property to go round.

Fast forward nearly a year later, we’ve been in our new place for months, and the market has ground to a halt in terms of property avaliable, but demand is higher than ever - we’re getting letters through the door every single day asking us if we’re looking to sell, Estate Agent flyers, people sniffing around the street and stopping us when we step outside to ask if anyone is selling… it is MADNESS!

It is admittedly a very well-located street with good sized properties, but it honestly feels insane. It’s not THAT amazing!

One guy was SO RUDE, suggesting my partner and I must be desperate for him to buy us out of our “huge mortgage”. LMAO our mortgage is like 20% of our house cost, which is one of the reasons we felt confident moving in a bloody pandemic

 

[Anne1448]

Houses around here still flying off the market for 20% over asking within a few days of going live. Our stamp duty cut ended a while ago now in Scotland.

Im still waiting looks like I will be for a while.

Same here. They are selling 2 bedrooms apartments for 575k here. 100k more than last year and people are actually buying them

 

[Kim Mild]

It's not unheard of for people with houses in more costly areas to move to a house in a 'cheaper' area to unlock cash . I know a few people who's parents have moved from the 'posh' estates to an ex-council or small terrace when they've retired.
( I've searched the sold prices on right move) .

The beggy little cards and letters estate agents put through my letterbox piss me off so much. We rent so maybe I’m over sensitive to it but obviously we don’t want the landlord selling as that could mean we lose our home, from a tenants perspective it’s just so thoughtless. I also hate the assumption that everyone owns where they live, like hello tenants exist in the world too. I wonder if anyone has ever responded to those cards or if they’re pointless, I can’t imagine you’d get one and suddenly be like “let’s move house” it’s usually something you think about for a while and then seek out an estate agent yourself. Like I say it’s probably a sore spot for me so annoys me even more. I just want them to stop hounding us and reminding us that this house isn’t really ours tbh.

I can’t look at house prices in my area right now, they are actually disgusting. It makes me sad.

edit: wording

We get them sometimes but they are usually from those companies that buy your house at less than market value.

Or schemes to part ex for a new build.

 

[Hertfordshire_home]

have you ever lived in a rented property or in a house share??


you said upthread that sometimes people living in rented housing don’t always have to pay bills.

that’s not the case.

my point here is that sometimes if you are a student and you are living in a shared house then you pay an equal proportion of all the utility bills. you don’t each get sent a gas bill, electric bill etc - you just pay an amount ontop of your rent to cover your share of bills. That would be the only reason why it may appear that people living in rentals “sometimes don’t pay bills” which was what you said earlier.

the point is; everyone has to pay their utility bills!!!

No need to for the rudeness, just pointing out facts. Yeah I have lived in both of those…. FYI we’ve just sold out flat and have bought a house for 425k, it’s not that hard to save if you prioritise. I’m not yet 30 and haven’t had help from parents.

If people say they cannot save I don’t realistically agree, it’s that they prioritise other things such as going out, holidays etc (absolutely nothing wrong with that, we decided to forego that because we valued the home ownership more).

 

[JoeBloggs]

Is it best to go through a mortgage advisor? From when I’ve checked what I can borrow online (4.5 times my salary) it’s about 35k more than what the mortgage advisor has told me.

It really depends. If you can get it on the high street and it’s a good rate you don’t need to but you might want to see what they can offer as sometimes they can get off market rates.

It all depends how much you want/need and can afford.

We needed 4.5 times our income so had limited choices but went through Barclays as it was the best rate.

 

[Yel]

It is really sad how so many people are forced into these schemes or else they may never be able to own a house!

It's sad that people think these schemes are actually to help them. Without all these props they might be able to actually afford to buy a house.

Politically the will to keep house prices inflated will diminish as the number of have-nots is on the rise each year.

I'm seeing houses coming up for sale at above pre-covid prices, even if they get someone to pay that I expect it will fall through come the survey valuation.

Once furlough ends I think there's going to be huge unemployment, it's just masked for the moment. Sadly this isn't a V shape recession, more likely to be an L shaped.

Homes face 14% price slump says Nationwide

The boss of Britain's second largest mortgage lender said first-time buyers and those stepping up the ladder into their second home would be deterred from purchasing in the midst of a recession.

www.thisismoney.co.uk