To think London property prices are falling - am I mistaken?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Out of curiosity I took a look at property prices (I rent) in my new local area and surrounds.

Loads of 2 bedroom apartments in Islington and Hackney for £500k or less. Lots have been reduced in recent weeks/ months.

I don't think the London property bubble will ever burst dramatically, but has there been a slight slow down in the last while? Maybe due to Brexit. Or am I just so used to seeing stupidly high prices for Hampstead that this area looks reasonably priced compared to there? Would you buy property in London at present?

I think there is a ripple effect coming out of London. This is very much anecdata....but a couple of years ago I set up new property alerts on Rightmove for Whistable and Wivenhoe, both places we were considering investing in because of their train links to London. I guess I stopped getting emails from Rightmove for 3 beds in our price bracket, but never actually noticed the emails stopping because we lost interest in buying. But in the last few weeks I’ve suddenly started getting emails again - 3 beds are once again available within our budget (and most of them seem to be price reductions).

I don't know (Croydon, where we used to live, seems to still be going up but there's been a lot of development around there recently and the prices never got as crazy as in nearby naice areas like Wimbledon, so probably not typical). The RICS residential market survey is quite a good indicator though, specially the back page where they have comments from individual surveyors. I think because they don't particularly benefit from a rising market (rather an active one) they're quite honest.

We moved from West London to the North East last July. We moved cos of not wanting a mortgage and job vulnerability when Brexit hits. It took us 10 months to sell our house but we only dropped £5k from FAP, but we were shocked it took so long to sell.

Where I am in Wandsworth prices have been pretty stagnant for a few years & are now dropping. It’s due to a number of reasons imo

1. Banks have tightened up lending so it’s much harder to stretch yourself. Plus the tax changers for BTLs.

2. So much of the London market was driven by equity with massive growth over the last 10 years as opposed to growth in wages. A flat that cost 300k in 2011 could have sold for 600k in 2015, how is that continued growth sustainable?

3. I mentioned this before on another thread but I think there is a much bigger trend to go to other cities (as opposed to the traditional move to the home counties from where I am). Quite a few of my friends have relocated as the job markets in other cities seems a lot more competitive. Even people who can afford a 1.2m house may just not want to spend that on a terrace with no parking like some friends of mine. I also think younger people may now just head off to other cities as opposed to coming to London.

4. Potential interest rises & stamp duty, ideally we would of moved a year or so ago but it would not have been a long term move and no way was I going to pay the high cost with so much uncertainty so we are doing the loft.

Obviously Brexit has had an impact but prices can only keep increasing if people are still getting on the ladder.

forced up by estate agents trying it on.

Definitely I know of 2 families who paid 1.1m for houses close to local schools, except they are at the wrong end of the road so out of “catchment” & way overpaid.

It’s not Brexit. Major cities across the world are experiencing the same thing. House prices in Sydney are regressing too. Nothing to do with Brexit.

I live in a fairly expensive area in London and some houses in my area have been sitting on the market for ages - over a year, nearly two years in some cases - because people are still asking for the prices they would have got easily before the Brexit vote and the stamp duty rise. Stamp duty is 12.5% over £1.5 million. People don't move without good reason now and there is Brexit uncertainty amongst the bankers/City types, who would have bought these houses before.

There was an article in the FT about it the other day. Areas like Highgate are struggling a bit but some areas that offer better value are not falling so dramatically. If you want to buy there isn't much stock available. There are still loads of estate agents but they have nothing in their windows, not sure how they're making anything from sales, rentals seem to be holding a bit better.

London is its own market, but the rest of the country isn't all the same either. There are places where prices are less than they were in 2007 that have just stagnated, and there are places where prices are now higher than peak.