House Prices

[Pixipoppy]

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 mean, has anyone got one of those cards through their door and actually thought “you know what, I do want to move actually, let’s give Alan a call” in the spur of the moment? Like I say it’s probably a sore spot for me so annoys me even more.

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

Haha I used to get them ALL the time in my old place, and it would say how they’d sold in that area and how much demand there was for those flats. Few months after we started getting these leaflets my landlord did indeed sell I’m sure it wasn’t because of those flyers (cos we were getting them not him) but it was still such tit thing to happen.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Haha I used to get them ALL the time in my old place, and it would say how they’d sold in that area and how much demand there was for those flats. Few months after we started getting these leaflets my landlord did indeed sell I’m sure it wasn’t because of those flyers (cos we were getting them not him) but it was still such tit thing to happen.

That’s so tit! One of the downsides of renting when a landlord decides to sell. I don’t even look at the things from the estate agent now, straight into the recycling bin they go. It’s more of a waste of their time than mine really as I think the ones round here post them themselves

 

[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.

 

[Yel]

I have a friend who is an EA in the south east and that’s how I heard the phones had started to go quiet.
It could just be a blip but the stamp duty holiday is coming to an end plus all the furlough etc
I think at the lower end of the market stuff is still moving but the higher end is slow unless it is in a really desirable area and priced right.

Sounds about right, anyone looking to complete before the first stamp duty holiday reduction ends next month will have had their offer accepted by now.

There was already so much pent up demand that the stamp duty changes have just added heat to an already overheating market. It now looks like a mistake, just as help out to eat out was.

I'm still a bit confused at who is buying all the crappy flats in urban areas that are allowing people to move to the burbs?

The end of this year once furlough and stamp duty changes are gone will let us see where things stand.

 

[Hertfordshire_home]

Saw another house yesterday on for £400k. We are first time buyers so good position, offered £400k and it was still rejected as there were 12 viewings tomorrow. Both of us have said we will not over pay for something so looks like thats another one we have lost out on! Our budget is £400k - we want to be able to afford to buy certain things and make changes in neccessary but looks like we will have to look for houses on at 375k to get one!

 

[Yel]

Just as covid hit house prices were stalling and not increasing. Then the biggest economic shock since a world war and they've sky rocketed. Is it really like for like or have lots of changes in the upper end skewed the figures?

 

[Kim Mild]

I'm still a bit confused at who is buying all the crappy flats in urban areas that are allowing people to move to the burbs?

Probably people who either lived with their parents during lockdown, or people who have had a relationship break up.

 

[Columbo]

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

Yes to all of this. My head is spinning at the price of houses where I live atm. My sister in law bought her semi detached for £130k 5 years ago, the house next to her (identical house) sold for £220k before it even had the chance to hit the market. So many tenants around here being evicted as landlords want to cash in supply vs demand is a massive problem.

 

[Yel]

"Help to buy is the worst decision I ever made"

Why I regret using Help to Buy to get on the property ladder

Help to Buy was the government’s great promise of homeownership to the priced-out generation, but now many who took their first step on to the property ladder

www.thetimes.co.uk

Bought a flat in Clapham for 490k in 2017 and tried to sell for the same price in 2020 and the best offer she got was 390k.

It's behind a paywall but basically it's saying all help to buy did is line the pockets of house builders, keep prices high and offload poorly made new builds that even with the house prices rises some are still losing tens thousands if they're city centre flats. Lots of extra fees that have caught people out.

All these "help" schemes are not to help the plebs, they're about keep prices high and helping the house builders and finance companies. Don't be fooled by it.

 

[Holidaybobs]

"Help to buy is the worst decision I ever made"

Why I regret using Help to Buy to get on the property ladder

Help to Buy was the government’s great promise of homeownership to the priced-out generation, but now many who took their first step on to the property ladder

www.thetimes.co.uk

Bought a flat in Clapham for 490k in 2017 and tried to sell for the same price in 2020 and the best offer she got was 390k.

It's behind a paywall but basically it's saying all help to buy did is line the pockets of house builders, keep prices high and offload poorly made new builds that even with the house prices rises some are still losing tens thousands if they're city centre flats. Lots of extra fees that have caught people out.

All these "help" schemes are not to help the plebs, they're about keep prices high and helping the house builders and finance companies. Don't be fooled by it.

I did my dissertation on house affordability for young people. Help to buy is all smoke and mirrors, I’ve warned so many people, if you can afford to it avoid it.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

I’m looking to probably buy first time this time next year so I hope the markets better by then

 

[Boutros-Boutros Ghali]

Thing is people now expect their houses to be worth that money now. I think people will just end up staying put if they can’t get the high prices of this year (unless they really have to move)
We bought out house at the end of 2019. Relocated from London to the North so we’re in a strong position financially and probably paid slightly over the odds for our house (only by a couple of grand) because we liked it, we wanted a home not an investment and we’re not moving any time soon. I wouldn’t expect it to be worth much more unless we go up into the loft. Then 2 houses on the street have come on and sold within a day for 25k over what we paid...absolute madness. It’s a nice house but definitely not worth that!

 

[Yel]

Thing is people now expect their houses to be worth that money now. I think people will just end up staying put if they can’t get the high prices of this year (unless they really have to move)

Things keep moving with divorce debt and death, I imagine there's been a huge rise in all three.

Some people with a choice may not sell for a penny less than it was worth at the top of the market but lots of others will. Hense the falls of 2008 and end of 90s even though lots said people just won't sell.

If you're moving then the next place falling by a similar amount makes it a zero sum game, or maybe a bit of a benefit if you're moving somewhere more expensive.

 

[Clickbait]

I'm still a bit confused at who is buying all the crappy flats in urban areas that are allowing people to move to the burbs?

The end of this year once furlough and stamp duty changes are gone will let us see where things stand.

I think people who are first time buyers have probably managed to save during the lockdowns. There have been people who will have moved home too to save. A lot of people want to get their foot on the ladder as they’re worried prices will spiral even more.

I’m hopefully selling my flat in Z4 in the next few weeks. Planning on getting valuations next week. I’m not sure what the market is like round here, all I know is it’s taken off enormously where I want to move to and houses are now at least £150k more than they were 18m ago particularly galling as I had wanted to move 4 years ago and could probably have got a property for £200k less at least with likely less variation in what my flat might be worth.

It is a lovely flat in an urban area though and I’ve spent a fair bit on it!

 

[Yel]

A lot of people want to get their foot on the ladder as they’re worried prices will spiral even more.

I do think that's a very dangerous mindset, especially now. They fell in 2008 and end of the 90s.

But if I was 20 years younger I'd be on the streets at how the young have been totally screwed over and the market manipulated so that you need to be exceptional to get a normal house and retirement will be all but a dream.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

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.

 

[Clickbait]

I do think that's a very dangerous mindset, especially now. They fell in 2008 and end of the 90s.

It is and it isn’t: if they get a sensible mortgage that doesn’t overstretch themselves on a property they like and are happy living in then they can ride the wave should there be a downturn. They should be able to afford the mortgage/bills and they are not at the whim of a landlord who can hike the price every 6 months, or decide to sell and then they have the moving costs.

Their circumstances may change but they may then buy with a partner, rent out their flat etc. as long as they don’t make the mistake of the shared ownership route.

If there is a spectacular crash there may be more houses being repossessed, possibly some bargains to be had but people in negative equity will be forced to sit tight and there will be fewer houses built so the issue with the lack of affordable housing stock will remain and rent will continue to go up meaning less chance of saving for a deposit which will need to be even bigger than it is now.

 

[Yel]

they can ride the wave should there be a downturn. They should be able to afford the mortgage/bills and they are not at the whim of a landlord who can hike the price every 6 months, or decide to sell and then they have the moving costs.

Thing is we just don't know what the future holds. Covid and the changes its brought forward is so different and so much more impactful than 2008 and the late 90s.

There's more to life than owning a home signing up for decades of debt.

It's held as the goal to reach, you're successful if you own a home etc

It's terrible, it equates to calling people loosers if they rent.

I bought in my 30s and it makes me feel a bit sad all these people I've seen that as soon as they graduate they're so keen to sign up for a lifetime of debt as if it's the way to untold fortunes. I'd have had a lot less fun if I bought in my 20s.

 

[Lanavalentine]

To be honest I think what this country needs is a huge overhaul of renting - both rules on landlords, HMOs etc but also an attitude makeover towards renting vs buying.

The amount of tit people spew about renting is just embarrassing. Many countries around the world have fairer rental markets, better support and rights for renters and less home ownership overall… personally if I hear one more person refer to renting as “throwing money away” I will scream! I never saw renting as throwing my money away - how could it be when I was paying to live somewhere?! It doesn’t make any sense!

I feel extremely lucky to own in the current climate, but I wish I didn’t feel like that and there was more focus on renters’ rights and avoiding exploitative landlords overall. I wish the choice between renting or buying was available to everyone because there absolutely are pros and cons to each in a fairer marketplace.

 

[mindlessness]

I always find the different between Continental Europe and the UK (and Australia, where I am) interesting. It's far more normal/common to rent there and with less stigma.

Why the Germans and French prefer to rent

View from the Continent

www.independent.co.uk

Old-ish article, but still interesting.