The property market looks like its going to collapse and that's a good thing

[Ellreejeee]

Surely this madness is going to end soon and it will benefit the country?

Shed for sale in Somerset in someone back garden for 150k. Look at the pictures www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37137567.html

London is insane, most overvalued many are saying www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34676643

The average london house has earnt 2 pounds an hour for the last decade. And that's tax free if its your own home!

I lived in London 20 odd years ago and couldn't afford to buy there either

I'm sure that's true of lots of us. People have always moved further out if they needed to. But most of the South-East being close to unaffordable is a new development.

Up until 2008, 100% mortgages were still available. Since then, various factors have come together very quickly to make things very difficult.

DH's niece has been flat-hunting in Chatham for 9 months (she has no links to the area and works in central London).

She was happy to do that, happy to stay home and scrimp for three years to scrape a deposit together but still she's struggling because she is competing with investors and parents buying for students.

I think there's a massive difference between the London/S.E. markets & the rest of the U.K.

I feel there should be better regulation/taxation of BTL in London.

London prices are just crazy; I don't think they will fall any time soon though.

I have just got off the phone to cancel our Sky as we are about to move into a bigger home and will be "at home playing scrabble" to afford it. Some people are prepared to scrimp and make compromises, though I appreciate we're also fortunate to have bought our first home six years ago before it went crazy.

We had a deposit because in our teens we had lost, between us, a grandparent, a parent and a much loved uncle. Their generosity gave us the foot up we needed but we scrimped to cover the payments and more so we could reduce the mortgage in case of a crash.

Having seen the market in London as a buyer and seller this summer I think things are slowing. My hope is that they stagnate for a few years to make it all more sensible and burst the bubble slowly.

What makes you think it looks like the market will collapse OP?

Having bought in the last few months and having gone to sealed bids 3 times on different houses I think the market is rising. I'm not in London or the south either.

I lived in London 20 years ago and bought a one bed flat fur 82,000 with a £5000 deposit.

It was much more affordable then. Much more expensive near the tube though. People who have moved to London are obsessed with being on a tube line.

I don't think there will be a crash. Not even a dip.

Not sure about a crash in London and south east based on the price a house in my road that sold this week

Property prices and markets are very regional and where demand outstrips supply prices will always be high.

There's also the ripple effect, where London buyers are moving further and further out inflating prices in the surrounding counties.

I think that the 'it will definitely collapse' brigade are extremely dangerous for some. I need to work in London. The promise of a collapse has put us off buying until now. We're just realising that it's not a guarantee, nobody knows.

I think you'll find the 'it will definitely collapse' brigade are as clueless as anyone else vulgar. I'm unsure why you find them dangerous, just practical.

I think there will be a crash; however I do not know if, or when it will be. I'm certainly not a housepricecrasher - who I think have been foolish; they've wasted 10 or more years bring scared and waiting for a bargain when there is a 'crash' rather than using that time to pay a mortgage halfway down.

There is a lot of info out there for research purposes and you can make your own mind up.

I worry because we have a humongous mortgage; in 2008 we were totally unprepared for the credit crunch and really struggled because Dh lost his job, and I've spent the last 7 years getting our debt down to try and withstand another downturn should it happen.

It was scary, and I want to be prepared for the next one if it happens.

Thickandthin*

We were the same - dp's income halved in the last recession abs we are still digging ourselves out

It does make me laugh when posters start on about sky and mobile phones
The world is a different place now than it was even 10 years ago...internet access is pretty much necessary now that the public libraries are closing. How do kids do their homework, submit online work, apply for jobs, online banking...
Our cable package is £50 a month.
My phone is £20 month (til I go SIM only then it will be £10)
How is that massive £720 per year going to help me save for a deposit!?
We holiday in the UK...self catering. No fancy holidays here!
Again, how is that £700 a year going to help?
When in was a child in the 70s it was.possible for a family to love well - not extravagantly - but well on one wage.
Just not possible.now.

All those people waiting for the houseprice crash with a bag full of money (do these people exist?!) ... They are not aware they are part of the problem. If hordes of people were to pounce once a house price crash hits.... There won't actually BE a house price crash

Maybe I am naive in my views but surely they can't just keep rising at this exponential rate.

Yes historically house prices have always risen but that has always been alongside wages as well. In the last 5 years I think I have had a 2-3% pay rise but house prices in my area have risen by at least 25%. An example is my friend bought 6 years ago, and is now selling her house for almost double what she paid yes she has had a loft conversion and a new kitchen but certainly not £140 000 worth of work!

Surely this is not in anyway sustainable.

I am in the SE and have resigned myself to the fact that when we do buy (hopefully next year) it's going to be miles away from my family and I will almost certainly have to find a new job.

To say that my generation expect everything is insulting, we have worked so hard to get to where we are, and I just want a stable home for my DS

I don't know of anyone with bags of money waiting for a crash either I have to say..

I wouldn't have wanted a mortgage at 21. Christ how dull would that have been?

I've just bought my first house at 21. It's great fun. We kept Sky and mobile phones whilst saving and I bloody well hope the market doesn't crash now!

Badders that is £1500 ish per year that you could add to your deposit pot. Many people save for 5 - 10 years, so that could be a useful sum to be saving. I started with £10 a month, there is no amount too small.

Those of us who bang on about mobile phones and Sky packages are the ones who chose not to go on holidays, not to buy the fripperies of the time, in order to save. The things may not be the same, but the concept is. Spend for now or save for later... your choice.

The constant Pythonesque contest to decide who had it worst is depressing. The difficulties of yesteryear were just as bad as those today, just different and possibly not easy to understand if you weren't there. Just as today's needs and wants aren't well understood by some older people.

We have just been through one of the worst financial crises the world has ever seen. House prices did crash (in many parts of the country) and then recovered. Where have you been?? I don't think anyone is predicting another crash now. And property is perfectly affordable in many parts of the country.

By the way, lack of affordability for the lower end of the market WILL NOT cause a crash as long as there is demand!

London will never collapse. People the world over invest in it as its a safe haven.

London will be a bit like Monaco in a few years, no one local will be able to afford to live there. Its not far from Essex, reading or Sussex to commuite in.

I think you have nailed it insoectorgina.

I know the Swiss used to have a lot of rules about homeownership in order to keep their country functioning as a "real country" for the citizens there. I don't think the British would ever do anything like that. Everything here is for sale. Just waiting for them to outsource the monarchy!

What happened to the OP? Maybe it was her shed she was trying to sell!

A lot of these new homes are empty, estate agents call them cash boxes or buy to leave, I remember coming home late and walking through Canary Wharf to catch the train and I was surprised at how dark these new developments are. The lights weren't on because no one lives there.

Have only just clicked on the link and agree that is totally bonkers but mainly because it's just in someone else's garden .

We moved to North Shropshire in 2005 and our house is still just about worth what we paid despite many improvements.

We bought (and sold) this year in Edinburgh and it was clear that 3 bed family homes in more modern styles had reached a ceiling. Most people couldn't pay over about £350k even though there was huge demand. The result was that every house in that bracket sold in days. Literally 2-3days in some cases. It was very very hard to view and buy. We were literally walking out of our jobs to do viewings on the day the houses appeared online and having to decide to bid or not instantly.

I should add that same sized houses built in stone (Victorian, Georgian etc were twice that price)