to think that at least a house price crash would be a sliver of silver lining

[yougottheshining]

I voted remain. I am beyond upset that we are leaving. However, if house prices in my area come down by 20% I could afford to buy. I'm not even that bothered about being a home-owner per se but I can only afford to rent because I get tax credits and housing benefit (despite working full time). For years I have been shiteing myself about what will happen to me and my kids when these top-ups stop, all the while being subjected to programme after programme about property porn, and headline after headline about how good it is that houses are worth so much money . I have had a permanent knot in my stomach about what will happen when my oldest hits 18 and we have to move to a smaller house because I will no longer get enough to house us all, and again what will happen when my youngest hits 18 and I will have to move to a room in a shared house, and there will be nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, for the kids to go. Because rents keep on going up, and I can't afford our (modest) house anyway on what I earn alone, and the only way around that is to buy, but I can't buy because I'm paying out so much in rent. I cannot explain just how worried I have been about this, for years. I really don't want to leave the EU. I have been crying and swearing around the place for the entire weekend. But actually I am in a fucking horrible situation in regard to housing and shelter for me and my family, so AIBU if one of the effects is that house prices fall to a level that will make it affordable for us to have a family home?

[Defenbaker]

OP, YANBU to hope that there might be a silver lining to the black clouds that have seemingly been on your horizon for several years. I totally see where you're coming from and why you're feeling frazzled about the future. You mentioned a situation with possible inheritance coming your way, so you may also be grieving for someone you were close to, and seeing the inheritance as a little ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel of grief. I'm not saying money cures grief or can fill the void that person left, but YANBU to look for any positive side you can find in a difficult situation.

I think house prices have been ridiculously high for a long time now and are way beyond what many can afford, so a drop wouldn't be a bad thing for many people like OP who are currently renting. On the other hand, an extreme drop in prices might help OP but put others into dire situations due to negative equity. So, sadly, while people like OP may gain if property prices nosedive, others who need to sell may suffer. So, YANBU OP to look for the silver lining, but others who dread negative equity are also NBU.

[NoodleEatingPoodle]

Okay. So if there's a property market crash and then at some point in the future you lose your job, you'll be in a horrendous situation with regard to housing.

But why on Earth should OP be more concerned with the what-ifs and maybes ("what if I also lose my job?" "what if we need to sell?") a crash would present for you and others who are currently in secure housing situations than she is with her own, current, real-life day to day housing insecurity? And why should she not be hopeful that she and people like her might have a chance to step up into a situation with real but much less immediate risks to long-term housing security?

For someone who says they have experience of being vulnerable in the rental market, your lack of empathy is astounding. Nobody's wishing negative equity - and certainly not job loss on top of it - on anyone. Saying "if property prices drop I might actually be able to give my family some security, and while I wish the vote had gone differently that's a silver lining from my perspective" is not unreasonable.

Poorer people are allowed to prioritise their own families' interests, just like more comfortable people - like landlords, and people selling properties - do all the time .

[3amClub]

And what are you going to pay for this house with? Because inflation will happen, you'll earn the same but prices will rise. lenders will be less keen to lend so mortgages will be harder to come by. Oh, and if there is a halt on selling until a clearer picture is known, there'll be less properties to buy anyway...

[katemiddletonsnudeheels]

I agree with Bill, and I'm not sure why I got singled out to ask if I can 'fucking read' - I was sympathetic! never again!

[Scarydinosaurs]

YABVU wishing instability upon those who are mid purchase/looking to move and now can't due to negative equity, is selfish.

'Crashes' are never ever a good thing. And if they do crash, they're likely to tighten up on lending and you won't be able to afford a house anyway.

Crashes don't happen in isolation, everything else feels the repurcissions too, and they happen due to other changes in the market (weakening pound, job losses, higher risk to lending).

It's basic economics and YABU to not educate yourself.

[frikadela01]

Can I jut point out to all the people saying house prices had been crazy for years that this may be the case in the south east but it certainly isn't the case for the country as a whole. Like I said in my pp in our area they haven't reached pre 2008 levels and we actually only came out out of negative equity last year. I sympathise with OP, I've been there before I met dp but a house price crash would be unlikely to fix your current problem.

[PastaLaFeasta]

Home owners in negative equity may be trapped but so are we due to property prices being stupid. We are considering extending at a tiny fraction of the cost to upgrade and move. And if we rented we'd be equally limited by the prices - rent is often far higher than mortgage repayments making saving a deposit much harder, we pay half the estimated rent so have been able to save 10s of thousands in six years while also improving our home. But we still can't save fast enough to keep up with the gap between two beds and three beds here and DH earns far far higher than the national average salary. We are the lucky ones and I'd be relieved to lose equity, perhaps with longer term stalling in the price growth than a sudden drop - there are far more people to benefit than lose out, including most of our children in the decades to come. It's short term-ist and selfish to want this growth to be sustained and not corrected. People who've mortgaged themselves up to the eyeballs knew the risk and took it, we deliberately borrowed half of the available funds and lost out on price rises but can sustain our lifestyle on a much reduced income should the worst happen. One ex friend expected us to feel sorry for her because she "had" to work after taking a huge mortgage while we have half the space and a stay at home parent. If people, and the banks, had been sensible prices would be lower.

[PastaLaFeasta]

And inflation isn't a forgone conclusion either - it didn't happen after the recent crash despite the interest rates dropping to record lows. The economy books need to be rewritten after more recent times.

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

I'm really sorry but the coming crash is going to be hardest on people like you (who are already on low wages and dependent on benefits to survive). There won't be a silver lining for you.

Even if house prices did fall (and that would not be a good thing for the country) they will be snapped up by those with ready cash. Prices fell 70% in Ireland and the working poor did NOT benefit. Their numbers were swelled by the economic collapse though :(

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

The best thing for you to do now is try to do whatever you can to earn more. And if your area is expensive that's probably because there are jobs so do whatever you can NOT to leave it. Don't fall into the trap of moving to a depressed region because their house prices are lower. These regions are not going to do well in a big recession and the funding they rely on now is gone.

[sparechange]

If house prices crash, are you 100% certain you won't lose your job, be at risk of losing your job or be at risk of a pay cut?
Banks won't be 100% certain none of that will happen to you, and will lend accordingly.
You may find your ability to buy is much lower than it is now.

Price drops don't happen in isolation. They are part of bigger economic turmoil. It would mean many people have been plunged into negative equity, face repossessions, have lost their jobs.

You are wishing for the misery of others. Not nice.

[sandrabedminster]

Yanbu.

People are speaking a lot of crap here.

Its only unfair if a few people get ne, yet priced out people when prices are rising 10% a year should shut the fuck up

[sandrabedminster]

I own my own home and would be happy for them to halve. And they need to.

No one cares about the 10k a year renters loose. But it mortgage holders asset gors down by 10k a year people are outraged. Selfish fuckers.

[mamamea]

YANBU.

I am praying for carnage.

[mamamea]

"The best thing for you to do now is try to do whatever you can to earn more."

This is not true. My sister just spent £850k on a house sold for £105k around 15 years ago (in some stabby part of London). Ok it's a little bit shinier now than it probably was then, but 'earning more' is nonsense.

[mamamea]

"How bloody selfish
Why haven't you bought a house before now ?"

Many possible reasons.

"Why should I, when both myself and my DH have worked our arses off and scrimped to buy property, lose out ? "

Why shouldn't you? Nobody owes you a goddamn thing. You made a certain financial bet, you can lose out if things don't go your way, just as you can make big profits.

[sandrabedminster]

Why should I, when both myself and my DH have worked our arses off and scrimped to buy property, lose out ?

How are you losing out? You invest in a house, you've got no god given right for it to increase in value. Its a gamble.

[thisisafakename]

OP, I feel sympathy for you, I really do. However, as others have said here, a 20% drop in house prices would not help you. Banks would stop lending money and people who own the types of houses that you would be looking at buying would not want to sell. Banks would expect a larger deposit (although I am not sure what percentage deposit your inheritance would cover).
You also have the prospect of a government whose aim is to fuck over the working classes and your tax credits are therefore far from secure for the future.
If you can't afford the rent on your current income, most lenders would not pass you on the eligibility criteria. Seeing a broker who said you might get a mortgage if prices were 20% lower does not mean you would get one if there was a crash, because the lending criteria would drastically change.
Have you considered part buy part rent? It's not just for flats- there are larger properties on the scheme too.

[mamamea]

Great line in The Guardian.

*It’s never nice to see a company’s share price tumble.

-

But some people might make an exception for Foxtons, the notoriously aggressive London estate agent. Its shares have plunged by 20% this morning, after warning that Brexit uncertainty will hurt its profits."

Hahaha.

That's pretty much it. 20 years of people crowing about how much money they've earned sitting on their arses (at the expense of others!) has rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.

[RebelandaStunner]

Yabu. Save up, move area etc. Make it happen yourself if you want it so much.

[IJustLostTheGame]

We'd be finished it house prices crash.
Our flat dropped to negative equity in 2008 and hasn't recovered enough to recoup on our mortgage so we rent it out.
The house we live in currently is also mortgaged secured in the rent from our flat.
DH is already worried as he does a lot of work in the EU. There aren't all that many job opportunities where we are.
My job is badly paid but it's also dependant on EU funding.
Our situation could be precarious, potentially we could lose everything.
So YABU.

[Schwabischeweihnachtskanne]

A property price correction would be a good thing long term - but it would be very long term and as others say probably not help anyone in real need short term.

The only people who would benefit short term would be cash buyers who inherited money or were cash rich already - might lead to even more property bought up by property companies/ landlords with large portfollios, which is probably not a great thing, though who knows, more property available on the rental market might make it more of a tenant's market....

If the pound stays weak long term and the property market crashes then maybe it's a silver lining for the British passport holders living in the EU who have been mostly shafted by the referendum result but could possibly now save up their Euros and afford to buy back into the UK property market when they retire... Perhaps that is not what Leave voters had in mind ....