Does anybody think property prices will actually go down?

[skyofdiamonds]

I feel so miserable about getting onto the ladder and just think prices are ridiculous at the moment (in my area). I live in South England, 60 minute commute to London.

Does anyone think property prices will drop in the near future?

I am jealous of all the people the age of my parents, who bought houses so very cheap, that are now worth so much more. This will never happen again, will it?

I work alongside a lot of property developers and while they are a bit more cautious, there doesn't seem to be any huge nervousness at present. A slowdown seems more likely that a crash (although nothing is impossible!)

I just managed to scrape onto the housing "ladder", but for years it didn't feel possible.
The only thing I really minded about renting was the lack of stability. I think if rents were stablised and long term tenancies were available then renting would probably be more desirable than precarious (I.e. Mortgaged to the eyeballs) home ownership. But at present renting feels so temporary and that is a horrible feeling.

Sorry that should read post industrial revolution UK

I think if Labour get in and if they do start on the home building and rent control schemes I think the prices of properties will start to come down then because you'll have a fair few BTL landlords getting rid of their investments

They won't go down. Not to a really affordable level where the average house is 4 times the average income. Not where I live in the south east anyway.
I've learnt to make peace with the knowledge I will be a renter and always look to the positives of that (sometimes reading the "in a chain support thread" thread helps). I hope to own but am aware it won't be until I'm in retirement and my dear parents have passed away. That is the only hope I have but it's ok, no repair bills, maintenance worries, fear of negative equity, the freedom to move wherever I want whenever I want...... there are positives

True. Labour won't get in though. And once Corbyn is out of the picture, no one else will tackle it because so much depends on house prices being high.

I think what we will see is greater security for tenants now that there are so many including those on decent incomes and the number is increasing. But without rent capping rents will continue to rise to fund property ownership speculation.

GetInTheFuckingSea Do you have the Laura Kussenberg special edition crystal ball or did you just go with the standard, oh could I also please have Fridays lotto numbers, thanks ever so

Hahaha no! I'm actually in agreement with Corbyn pretty much especially on Trident and lots of other major issues. But, I know that the majority aren't.

Thank you for getting that humour GetIn I typed it and hoped you wouldnt read it as goady

And while I'm saying what the situation is - especially in London where housing clearly isn't about what occupiers can afford and which has blatantly become a vehicle for money laundering - I don't agree with it. At all. But what I think doesn't matter.

No but hopefully the goverment will put the screws on all the get rich quick hobby landlords and they'll realise it's not worth it and flood the market with their BTLs.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I think they WILL go down in my area (kent). Prices dropped during the last crash, I bought mine in 2012 at the bottom - since then they've rocketed back up to completely crazy heights. Beyond crazy. No way this is sustainable or realistic. If interest rates shoot up, brexit bites, inflation happens, etc then we will see another crash - give it 5 years

No problem, justanother. It's either laugh or go fucking crazy at the whole ridiculous situation.

You're preaching to the choir on that 1 IMO

I bought in 2010 and they had fallen 30% , so yes. Especially with job automation.

A crash won't help you though. All that happens is that people stop selling, builders stop constructing and banks stop lending.

It's a terrible situation for first time buyers and the government couldn't care less.

A crash will help you. It helped me pay 1/3rd less than my neighbour did 3 years earlier. Banks still Lent.

There's a tiny possibility they will dip short term in some places so have your deposit ready.
I remember thinking buying a house was scary and out of reach in the 90's.
Save as much as you can and see what happens.

Nope, mine has gone up £50 grand in under 2 years, a mate in Stevenage bought a flat, it's now worth £70 grand more, same time frame.

It won't it will just go up. Britain is an island so space is very limited & as such house prices are always going to increase. A significant proportion of British residential and commercial properties are sold to non-EU foreign investors - anticipate the government courting them even harder approaching/post-Brexit

I think they will level out and possibly drop,

At present I have 3 friends trying to sell. They are unable to put offers in on houses that they like until they have offers on their houses. Is this a new thing?

They own mid-range family houses so two or three up the ladder. It has been impossible for them and the houses have been on the market for a few months. A few years ago houses around here were snapped up within a week.

Uppityhumpty it has nothing to do with us being an island - only something like 6% of the UK is built on. What it is is that fiscal policy is geared towards people who invest in housing getting a return, reinvesting and so on. We don't produce much any more and a lot of our wealth is built on the debt generated by this.

Totally agree sea. This island argument is very flawed, places with a much higher housing density have had crashes anyway.

only something like 6% of the UK is built on. What percentage would be better/enough? 50%? 90%?
That is a meaningless statistic - property in New York is hideously expensive but I bet way less than 6% of the US is built on.

Please no geldof bone headedness. While we are by no means self sufficient, one of the reasons we can't build on the entire country is that food does not actually grow in waitrose.

Other reasons include flood plains, forests, no hospitals/schools / transport and so on.

And thousands of empty properties as renovations are heavily taxed but tatty new builds are not.

I'm a 60 minute commute to London and prices are going up and up. People can't afford to live in London, so they move out. 60 minutes is affordable and commutable. Demand increases and supply drops. Prices rise. It's not going to get any better any time soon.