How do people in their late 30s afford £600k+ homes in the South East?

[bluntscissors]

So many people I know with jobs worse than mine have houses worth £600k+

We are in the South East so £600k+ isn’t actually a super fancy house. Of course no one talks about their finances and it would be crude to ask.

I am almost certain if you have a house worth this much then you must have had at least £300k in cash for a deposit otherwise the mortgage would be too much.

My group of friends is only late 30s/early 40s so haven’t had decades to build up equity.

Is my hunch right that they all must have been gifted 100s of grand from their parents? This seems absolutely wild but I can’t imagine another route.

If you have a house that is 600k+ tell me honestly how you managed it?

About 550k so not far off. Bought young, bought cheap, earn well and did work to get it to its current value.

Depends what the SAHM does as well though. It depends on circumstances. Dh does a lot more than me for the house/children. Not all SAHMs do everything in the home.

Bought 3 bed house in SE in 2013 during housing slump for £175k. Did it up cheaply (about 30k spent) and sold for £325k in 2019. Feel so lucky we benefited from that market increase as so much harder now. New House worth 550k and we have 300k equity in it. Both teachers so not mega salaries.

@BermudaRhombusIm SW London & have seen 6 fig reductions but houses still sitting there.

If you bought a 1m home a decade ago it needs to be worth over 1.4m now to keep pace with inflation. So much of the market was historically fuelled by equity gains, if the bottom rung can’t build that it’s harder to move up the ladder.

I remember years ago there was an FT article saying that when “boomers” die off there will be a glut of larger properties (needing work & quick sales) for sale which would depress prices. I didn’t think much of it but now it may be an accurate prediction.

We met each other young.
Started off buying a cheap, ugly house in an undesirable area. No help with deposit.
Did house up a bit, all ourselves. Lived frugally.
Sold at the top of the market, during COVID.
Had just enough to get a mortgage for nice house in nice area. Still not a drop of help.

Many may downsize early to reduce their inheritance tax and (if over £2m) mansion tax, hopefully freeing up family size houses for people with children.

I think the mansion tax will definitely result in some reduction in prices.

But this thread is about money! It's not about all the different types of contributing to a household or a marriage. When it comes to buying a house it's cold hard money that's important.

I assume because she didn't mention her occupation then she's a SAHM who is contributing zero income to the household, so is irrelevant when it comes to finances.

Her husband's occupation is highly relevant because he's providing the dosh for savings, mortgage etc, he's a lawyer therefore well paid, whatever type of lawyer he is.

Presumably she didn't want to say how much he earns, so lawyer is shorthand for well-paid. It would also be relevant if she said he was a binman or roadmender, because that would be shorthand for not being paid much, so unable to afford a £600k house.

You were far to quick to take umbrage.

@bridgeagap I definitely think the mansion tax will force some to sell & any new property tax will definitely encourage sales.

I’m seeing the same, also in Sw London and in the SW England market where we’re looking to buy. This thread alone shows that most people have a figure in their head of what they think their house is “worth” and therefore what their equity is. But many people would be in for a hell of a shock if they actually tried to sell their houses. Some of them won’t have made anything like the equity gains they think.