House Prices

[Gembo]

The properties wouldn't disappear. 90% of people that rent want to buy.

So no problem if 90% disappear. Or even if 100% disappear and the government invests in social housing to fill the gap. They're leaches.


Sell it if they don't want to be a landlord.

Saying no one should own more than one house is not anywhere comparable to saying no one should have a mortgage

I just think there will always be a need for renting, I’ve rented twice in the past at times when I wouldn’t have wanted to buy, one of those times was with friends in a shared house when we all moved from a smaller city to live and work in London. No way would I have wanted to buy with them regardless of affordability. I’m not saying there aren’t major problems with housing, house prices and landlords in this country because there are but I honestly don’t think all landlords are bad, I’ve had really good experiences with the ones I had and was glad that I could rent at that time.

 

[idk2]

I am so impatient to move house. Houses where we are looking seem to be selling fast but we haven't found the one for us yet. I am worried about whether the market will crash ,but I'm buying a home ,not a business venture. Although I do worry if we wait , better houses may become affordable.

We're in the same boat. We are very impatient but have decided to "wait" - although we are still searching every night .
Right now, in our area, it seems property prices have been inflated by a lot! I think estate agents are overvaluing houses right now so that when people low ball offers, they will still meet their actual target or not far off. Can they do this?

 

[idk2]

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!

These people who are snapping up properties to renovate then sell (without the added stamp duty cost) are the reason why I've struggled so much since this was introduced. I'm specifically looking for reno properties in the area I am currently living in yet they are being bought for at least 20k over asking price bc these people have bigger budgets

 

[SansaStark]

If you've already got a house it's not a bad idea at all to move now, if they do fall 10% by the end of next year it doesn't make that much of a difference.

But if you're taking on a huge amount of debt way better to wait while things seem bubbly.

I think the economy is going to be a long downward spiral, it'll really start to bite when the office workers at home start to lose their jobs as they're either replaced by an algorithm or an offshore worker. Not saying all will be, but even 10% over the coming years would have monumental repercussions.

I’ve found a lot of your financial insights across different threads really helpful. Obviously this isn’t a place for official advice but what are your thoughts for FTB? We’re currently trying to reduce our outgoings for affordability reasons while saving as much as we can, but it feels impossible a lot of the time

 

[Kmacg]

The market is still nuts here in Nottingham. We have HS2 coming () and thats part of the sales drive as folk are buying up for the London commute. Our area is massively student accommodation, so rent is high on the few family properties, but they are building loads of purpose places do hopefully thatll all settle down. Weve set out to save another 5k by July next year and will start looking then, hopefully we dont blow our whole £23k budget on a property alone, but Im not being naive about it!

 

[Yel]

SAFE AS HOUSES Buy-to-let landlord, 22, who hopes to retire by 30 says there’s ‘no excuse’ for young people not owning their own homes

A 22-YEAR-old landlord says there's "no excuse" young people can't buy houses and he plans to semi-retire by the time he's 30.

Josh Parrott bought his first house for £115,000 when he was just 19, using money he saved up from two jobs he did between school lessons.

He then rented out the house while paying rent to his parents, saving enough to buy another one for £140,000, aged 21.

The savvy lad from Stockport, Greater Manchester, did a £20,000 revamp and saved money by doing most of the labour himself after work, increasing the value by £60,000.

He plans to move in soon and is already on the search for his third property.

Average property prices in the area are £272,226 according to Rightmove, with terrace homes going for £201,110.

The businessman plans to own ten properties - renting out nine - by the time he is 30, buying one a year so he can finally put his feet up and work when he fancies.

He was inspired after he did work experience at an estate agent as a child.

Josh said there is no reason young people can't afford to buy homes - but admits his mates said he was "boring" when he said no to drinks or buying new clothes.

"I'll slow down at 30, I can't retire completely then I'd be bored, but I'd like to get a sail-boat like my grandad and pop over to Italy for the odd six months.

"Or maybe I'll be a stay-at-home dad.

archive.md

 

[Yel]

Interesting insight, thank for sharing! 1.7% is quite low but still a decrease which is huge as pre-covid prices were steeply increasing!

I think -1.7% now in a month while many things are effectively frozen is actually huge. Could be low transition levels but it won't be until September when things become clear.

Nationwide have very vested interests and think they'll fall around 14% this year alone and the very optimistic BOE predicts falls of 16% this year. It
makes me think they'll fall double these values.

People have got it into their heads that houses are effectively money printing machines just because of the last decade or two, they're all out of sync with wages. Never before have we seen times like this in at least the last 300 years the BOE has existed for.

I watch with interest, although feel very sorry for a couple of people I know that bought recently, but interest rates are low and even if prices fall by a grand a month that's what they would have spent on rent so it's not that different.

 

[justbeingnosy98]

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.

I’m looking to buy in Edinburgh atm and it’s mad!

The market is apparently slowing down but it doesn’t feel like it.

 

[rainbowlemon]

I spoke to the accommodation woman today. They wanted me to move to the 9th floor. I said no. I'm on the second and waiting for the lift can be a pain and it helps having the stairs.

They want me to move out so the new person moving in can be with the girl next door and it's not for redecorating purposes. I agreed to move out first but honestly I'm thinking of saying no altogether, but I asked someone who said they can do so if my contract is about to expire.

 

[orange club biscuit]

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

Omg the cheek! We’ve had letters through the door (we’re temporarily renting to ‘break the chain’, we had to in order to have any chance here, so we just have a good laugh at them) and one of our friends even had a very emotional handwritten letter put through theirs but never so far as people stopping us to ask if we’re selling - that’s crazy! Don’t know why anyone would move at the moment unless they have to, it’s just ridiculous. I’ve been on the other side though and at points we did get so desperate we did consider the leaflet approach

 

[Columbo]

I'm 33, went straight into renting as the family home would literally have driven me mental. I wished for years I could buy one day. Now? I honestly don't care. It's held as the goal to reach, you're successful if you own a home etc. I'm happy to rent, the repair costs alone make me shudder and im so relieved I never have to worry about that. I wish rent was fairer though and landlord held accountable to a uniform standard.

I moved from zone 3 London as I couldnt afford to rent there, I'm now in a commuter town just outside london and the rent is the absolute maximum we can afford on our wages right now. We will never be able to buy, there is no chance we could get a deposit together. There is property inheritance in line though, which is more than some have.

I feel the same, unless you're in the very fortunate position to buy a house outright then effectively the bank is your landlord anyway.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

They really should have done some capital gains tax on main homes.

Would have stopped parents remortgaging to gift money to pump back into houses (a pyramid scheme!), stopped the buy to let remortgaging madness of gazumping would-be owner occupiers and kept houses more inline with earnings.

What we have now is an unfair broken system that's causing so much misery. No matter what your situation is, the current system isn't good for a cohesive society.

The next level of insanity/scam I’ve encountered is a woman in her 30s being signed over her nan’s house as they don’t want it to be used for potential care costs in the future Apparently the paperwork is only £1,500 - I find it obscene that families are being allowed to pass wealth down like this then ask the underfunded state to pick up the bill?!!

 

[Lanavalentine]

We are hopefully moving house within the next couple of months. I've sold my current house for more than what it was up for in January. We are desperate to move somewhere bigger and stamp duty cut is a welcome saving of over 10k for us. Maybe I'm super naive but I want to move house and I'm not putting my life on hold any longer. We've not over stretched ourselves and are buying a property that is reasonably priced (based on the last 12 months of sold figures). I am happy with my choice and am not willing to wait any longer.

I’m the same. Posted on the thread explaining our situation, but the bottom line is it makes sense for us.

I will say though that I definitely agree the Mail and a lot of estate agents are talking utter bullshit. Even in a sought-after area (particularly for people moving out of London), with multiple potential buyers for every house, all the houses that go in at cheeky asking prices have to reduce to realistic prices a mere week or two later. It is quite amusing watching Rightmove!

 

[hollowcrown]

I think it's going to be very split, some people have done well and others less so. Only once tax payers support is withdrawn will the full affects be felt.

Then you have to factor in that some of these people that will never go to the office again, might find out after proving the case study their jobs are outsourced to someone on 1/5th the wages.

Very uncertain for so many people and we're in a transitory phase right now.

It will all be affected if people are sent back to the office or not. If yes then the industries surrounding commuting and going to the office won't take the hit and things will stay the same. If people are allowed to remote work more, then they will take a hit and people will move out of the cities. Commuter belt towns might become way more popular.

 

[Columbo]

The next level of insanity/scam I’ve encountered is a woman in her 30s being signed over her nan’s house as they don’t want it to be used for potential care costs in the future Apparently the paperwork is only £1,500 - I find it obscene that families are being allowed to pass wealth down like this then ask the underfunded state to pick up the bill?!!

As others have said there’s definitely a flip side to this. My great aunt worked as a nurse and paid her taxes for almost 50 years and owned a house on the Malone Road in Belfast (sought after area with very high house prices). When she was diagnosed with dementia my Mum and aunties looked after her at home until it got to a point where she needed 24/7 specialist care. Her home that was valued at over £1million was sold to fund her care in a care facility. She died having been in the care home for less than 4 weeks.

 

[Lanavalentine]

Do we live nearby?! Seems like exactly the same situation over here. It's been mental.

I think it must be at the owner discretion re offers without viewing as if I was to put an offer in and then view it, decided I don't like something or spot some extra exterior work that needs completion, I would back out. I can see why it would be seen as a faff.

I've thankfully booked a viewing for Weds now. Hoping to just whack in an asking price offer but really don't know how high I'm willing to go as I think some people are being so silly with offers that will end up falling through.

If I can give you some unsolicited advice, don’t get drawn into a silly bidding war. As you say, silly offers are likely to fall through, and although I understand the market is really busy in places right now, I don’t think it will stay that way for long... so best to hold out and stick to being sensible.

Also, not saying you’re doing this but anyone offering over asking price based on stamp duty savings is the biggest fool going! No way will people offering now make it in time to get the discount (maybe if you’re a cash buyer and no chain, but otherwise, no!).

For reference: we sold our house in July, offered on one the same month but that fell through (not on our end), offer accepted on another in the first week of September and we’ve only just exchanged! Veerrry difficult chain admittedly (a couple of divorcing couples, some multi-millionaires at the top of the chain who just took the piss) but also a LOT of delays in conveyancing, registry etc. It hasn’t been fun.

A lot of the houses we viewed but didn’t offer on seem to have gone on and off the market a couple of times (does anyone else still look at Rightmove everyday even when they’ve offered and bought a new place??!! It’s an addiction!). A lot of the overpriced properties which we didn’t even bother with have sat stagnant and reduced their asking price every couple of months, too.

I wonder what will happen now that mortgage LTV is more or less back to normal?

Anyway, good luck to anyone about to embark on their house selling/buying journey, I think you’ll need bags of patience at the very least!

 

[Yel]

The EA has been utterly useless.

As they ever are! It's a sales job with a low barrier of entry.

Selling something in the millions can take years even without all this turmoil. Around here there's the ones for millions that have been on and off the market for years ever swapping agents.

I do think lots are paying 30k more to "save" 15k on the stamp duty and as the 30k is added to the mortgage it's not as ludicrous as it sounds if thats paid pack slowly over decades with such low interest rates rather than paying the stamp duty when you buy.

All this talk about pay increases, ultra low LTV and it misses the real story that house prices are too expensive and out of sync with wages

 

[Homebird44]

Both my nieces and my sister have saved like mad in the last year, to pay a deposit for their houses. They stayed at home, paid rent to their parents and saved the rest of their wages. My sister works for the police, crazy hours and shifts and her and her boyfriend have just moved into their their 2 bed house. If you have a job and can save, its hard work but it can be done. As somebody else said, you have to prioritise. I also appreciate that not everybody can do it if you're already renting.

 

[Italy2]

So a house went up on Rightmove for sale last week with 2 photos, one at the front and another of an overgrown garden. I rang the estate agents today to ask whether they would be putting more pictures up soon so people can have a better idea. The estate agent told me that they won't be putting any more pictures up yet because the house is cluttered at the moment and they have the keys for a viewing. Apparently they have already had an offer on the house but it's under negotiation because it's too low. I asked her how can people make an offer without pictures in a week and she said oh they have viewed the house. I think they are just lying. Why do estate agents lie so much!?

 

[Hertfordshire_home]

I don’t care about what you have or haven’t bought, I haven’t mentioned anything about saving/how easy it may be to save. Nothing!!!! You haven’t had help from parents.….
ok so how have you saved money for a deposit?!

Wow I think you need to work on your attitude

Simple, we prioritised. We bought our flat in our mid 20’s having both worked at university alongside studying, before going straight on to grad jobs.

We don’t go on fancy holidays as we’ve prioritised having a home, we don’t really go clubbing and we eat sensibly. We usually go for a meal each week at a nice restaurant but other than that we take lunch to work etc. It’s pretty easy to save if you want to.

Many people buy lunch every day - over a year assuming £5 lunch and a 5 day working week thats £1,200 (5 days, allowing for 20 days holiday). People pay £50 a month for phones, pay crazy money for cars on finance, spend money on takeaways and it all adds up