To think it's good news about house prices falling

[brexitstolemyfuture]

The sentiment has really changed in comments sections all over the place.

It is a bubble, no way can something keep rising indefinitely. From my area in the south it's been 10% increases for years yet wages are the same. Average wage is 26k where I am, average house is over 300k.

A slow poping of them would be best for the economy and give hope to those not born when they were affordable. I speak as someone that owns.

Ours sold for asking... then fell through, then sold again for asking. Houses don't even make it online. There's definitely no problem round here!

Well next to noone will be trapped in ne with a slow decline as interest only is a thing of the past along with 100% or 125% mortgages.

No, I think a LOT of people who bought at the top of the market about 10 years ago on 100% mortgages (sometimes interest only) are going to find themselves in NE. There is another thread in AIBU at the moment where the OP has had a 100% interest only mortgage for twelve years. She bought at the top of the market and prices have only just recovered so she owns literally none of her house.

People that bought at the top 10 years ago and haven't recovered probably won't fall any more as they havent risen, as Barbara says.

12 years on interest only means they were saving alot in comparison of renting and have invested all these savings in a repayment vehicle , unless they are very very foolish.

We bought our house in 2007 just before the financial crash. We are still hovering around negative equity. So while my house is worth tens of thousands less today, I can't sell it to you!

Jesus OP, no thanks, I have been through negative equity and we (growing family who had outgrown the space) couldnt move for 5-7 years, all whilst the interest rates kept rising. The house we were in was a first time buyers prime home, but because we couldnt leave and lose 20% of the value, the house was not available to buy for a first time buyer anyway. House price drops are not always the dream that they appear, even for first time buyers.
Even when we did finally sell (to first time buyers), it was still £3.5 k under the original purchase price that we paid.

I do wonder if 95-100% mortgages are going to be the next big PPI type misselling reclaim. As when you think about it, the numbers just didnt stack up did they?

The snooty EAs losing their jobs. Oh the humanity

Aren't you quite the peach. People losing their jobs is amusing?

A steady decline in house prices would move the market, major crashes would leave people in negative equity and unable to move. The former makes financial sense, the latter less so.

If your a home owner that can't afford the next step it's good news.

No it isn't. I need the equity in my house to buy the new one - less equity = less ability to buy, regardless of if the house I'm buying is a bit cheaper as it's the LTV that matters.

Luckily , in my area, house prices are still on the rise.

12 years on interest only means they were saving alot in comparison of renting and have invested all these savings in a repayment vehicle , unless they are very very foolish

You're a complete dick aren't you OP. I doubt they've saved much at all to be honest, most people who went interest only did so as that's all they could afford - maintenance on a house, living, having a family probably ate up any 'savings'.

100% mortgages were not a good idea, neither was interest only but banks were handing them out like sweets.

We've been lucky - we chose a repayment mortgage, a 90%LTV and an up and coming area where prices have risen steadily then taken off in the last 2 years, but as much as I'd like to say it was good planning, some was sheer luck!

Kensington and Chelsea stamp duty land tax raises a shitload of cash for the treasury. What sort of a moron is gleeful about houses not selling there, apart from a spiteful one who likes to see people lose their jobs?!

I think I you need to be really careful about projecting what might happen in one part of the country to the whole of England, or UK.
We too own a house worth less than we paid for it (but with positive equity). I would hate a big reduction in the value.
I think a correction (so minimal increase, or small decrease) in parts (London) would be beneficial, but not everywhere.

Sionella & fanfrick - Kensington & Chelsea are major money laundering facilities - corrupt money from Russia, China and Africa have been pouring into property there for the past 6 years. This is money that has been robbed from its citizens that could have gone on health care, welfare etc in those countries. EAs have been assisting this corruption for too long. You are happy for the government to take a slice of this money ? Meanwhile ordinary British citizens have been priced out of the property because this corruption has inflated prices. Dont worry. Chelsea EAs won't be visiting the job centre any time soon. Save you're sympathy for more deserving causes.

Hopeless I responded to specific points the OP raised. I said nothing about Kensington and Chelsea. In fact, my responses were definitely sympathy for the more deserving cases!

If there's a crash, fewer people will move and the mortgage lenders won't lend as easily so o don't think it's something to wish for.

I would like to see house prices stay static for a long while in most areas so people don't get trapped by negative equity but likewise to stop the ridiculous increases in property prices that we have seen.
I own a house with a mortgage but I wouldn't be concerned about a fall in its price as long as other houses in my region fell by a Similar amount. If prices keep rising our children will Never have any hope of buying a property.

And the issue raised above about interest only mortgages is an interesting one. If people haven't invested in a repayment vehicle for their interest only mortgage then they have been irresponsible. Whilst I appreciate the fact that interest only is the only way some people
Could get on the property ladder what it really means is that they could never actually afford to buy a property and have really just been renting for years.

Oh fanfrick apologies that should have been directed at JacquesHammer to whom l can provide assurance that no Chelsea EA is about to go hungry unless the Blubird cafe closes down.

Me a dick for calling someone foolish to take out io without planning on paying off the debt? Err that is part of their commitment when they took it out! Very very foolish was putting it lightly.

If that's all they could afford without planning to pay off the capital then they shouldn't of bought, it's not a right to buy a house and no one forced them to.

Falling house prices means lots of people trapped in negative equity. The only way out of the trap is to mail the keys back to the mortgage company and walk away

I'm not sure how on earth interest-only mortgages ever got the green light. There should have been some sort of condition attached i.e. you pay extra into a savings account linked to the mortgage account to go towards paying off the capital.

No Kursk, it's not that easy. The homeowner is still responsible for the difference between the borrowed amount and what the mortgage company sell the house for. The negative equity follows you even if you hand back the keys. The banks have covered that angle.

The only way out of the trap is to mail the keys back to the mortgage company and walk away

I assume that you are not in the UK? I know this is (was?) common practice in the US, but in the UK, the lender has 12 years to pursue the owner for the shortfall plus added interest and charges. People have been made bankrupt by trying to walk away.

YABVU. While a decrease in house values might seem a good thing, at least for some of the population, you need to think about what is causing it. If it was just a steadying of the market, that would be fine. Unfortunately, it's a symptom of a slow down in the economy, probably heading towards recession, which is not good news for anyone.

Barbara - yep - and if you acknowledge the debt in the meantime, the clock starts ticking all over again.

Hopeless - have you even been to RBKC? It doesn't sound as if you know that much about it. Lots of us ordinary folk live there too, you know. It's rather insulting to imply that everyone is a money launderer and to wish NE on them just for living in a certain place.