Unrealistic house prices.

[lovelyupnorth]

Rant mode really.

Looking to buy a house currently renting.

It’s interesting round here there’s a lack of houses coming on to the market but there is also a number of houses on the market that are massively over priced and thus not selling. Talking to the estate agents they’ve plenty of buyers looking. But prices here have returned to their 2007 level just about and those priced sensible sell quickly but AIBU to think that if your house has been on the market for over a year with two different estate agents that maybe asking £60k more than you paid for it is unreasonable.

To put that into context another house close to that one sold recent for £20k less then they bought it for and had upgraded it.

I realise that at the end of the day it’s up to the vendor. But when they go on about desperate to sell but clearly either aren’t or deluded it’s frustrating.

Rant over. Also council tax bands how can one house selling for £465k be a D but another selling for £325k be a F.

I realise that at the end of the day it’s up to the vendor. But when they go on about desperate to sell but clearly either aren’t or deluded it’s frustrating.

Or they risk negative equity if they sell for less and are desperate to avoid that?

Re council tax- are those two properties definitely the same geography tax wise?

Yep the two properties are in the same town.

It’s exactly the same here OP - naice suburb of Midlands city - three bed mid terraces or semis come on at £300- 320ish and are snapped up within the week/ fortnight, meanwhile you have about fifteen just lingering on the market since around January or in some cases even september at £360-375k, yes they’re nicely decorated but £60-75k more for a terraced?

When I look at the market information it seems like the odd person did manage to get that price, maybe one in the road, in 2018 most often, but 75% of sold prices are in the £300k region.

If I look at the market information people bought these houses in 2012-2014 mostly and for £190-220ish

All I can think (and I know it’s uncharotable so would like to hear the other side) is that they’ve seen the odd neighbour get a windfall, have decorated nicely (I.e. the grey, yellow and teal cliche), are wanting to upsize and have got greedy.

Some of them are so overpriced I don’t even know how you’d approach viewing/ offering - any advice?!

Council Tax bands are worked out on property value in 1991 so are hugely out of date. But it is very possible for the same house to have different bands across a town. That's why it's called location location.

Reading your post back, in my town we don’t even have the negative equity factor 🤨

I appreciate these vendors may not really be motivated but I’d find it embarrassing not least with them neighbours to have been sat on the market for so long at such an excessive price

If supply is low, prices will always rise. If prices have dropped there will always be people who cannot sell unless they achieve a certain amount.

I agree it’s supply and demand. But there’s no demand at those prices they just sit we looked at one over a year ago before we’d even decided to sell. It was on at £390k. It’s now on with a 3rd estate agent at £350k. Yet across the road two have come and sold on the mean time at £330k. Just wonder when they’ll get the hint.

Supply is low and demand is high but yet a number are still not selling tells you a story. In the last week two houses we’d like have come on the market at £395k both sold with in days. Both well priced.

Perhaps they are being forced to sell (eg divorce) and that was the price they agreed to sell at. We experienced overpriced, messy, dirty houses with rude vendors and afterwards the estate agent would say divorce sale.

In my area new builds are going up like crazy in our small town
4 years ago a new build 4 bed detached town house went for £325 but now the 3 bed terraced are starting st £349!!!! No one can afford them! Plus they are supposed to be "affordable" for first time buyers

No I feel your pain. We’ve just managed to set up a purchase and sale. Sold ours in 48 hours as it was reasonably priced. But two flats upstairs are asking for £100k more than we sold for and have been sitting on the market for 6 months plus. Same with purchase in the end we snapped up something new on at a decent price after months of frustration with vendors either massively over priced or, having had to drop their price to get some interest, very annoyed about it and then refusing to accept the asking price and trying to say they want as over asking offer... madness!

I get what you’re saying but nobody HAS to sell their house. You’re correct - they’re obviously not ‘desperate’ to sell if they remain at that price but they’re not obligated to drop it and I do think ‘desperate to sell’ is estate agent speak!

I live in a VERY pricy city (one of the most expensive beyond London) and we have what would be considered a large 2 bed terraced (3 large reception rooms- 2 large double rooms) right in the centre!

These houses are in HUGE demand. Two houses on our street have sold within days of hitting the market. A queue of buyers waiting!

Most sell for £270-£280k Ish but for us to get the type of house we’d want to move up to- we’d have to put it on for about £300k.

I believe the other two houses were landlord owned, but we’re in a chain- so for us to move would have to be ‘worth’ it.

I’m toying with the idea of putting it on, but tbh I think we’d get a lot of backlash and viewers coming and saying ‘well that one up the road sold for £275k so why should we pay more for this?’

• I don’t really care if they pay it or not- it’s just not worth the hassle/effort to me to move for any less!

So Spiceupyourlife it seems you accept your house isn’t worth the £300k in open market terms so you’d need a special purchaser, not someone usual, to buy it.

So It seems that now that houses prices are no longer rising, people are staying put which stifles the market, as well as any Brexit uncertainty (Im certainly nervous about buying right at the top of the market when all signs seem to be pointing in the direction of prices staying put if not falling)

So motivated sellers aside is it possible to have much of a ‘correction’ if all those looking to gain - probably at the lower end of the chain - are more likely to stay put? Maybe if it carries on for a good few years?

Spiceupyourlife are u in south Bristol/ Bristol by any chance?

Yes YABU to 'rant' about it. Why should sellers take a hit on what's probably their main family asset if they don't need to, just because there are buyers around looking for a bargain? If they have rejected offers they consider to be too low and choose to sit on the market instead, that's up to them. And if it's as widespread as you say, then those sellers will likely be having the same trouble with whatever they are trying to purchase.

@christmas

I think ‘market value’ is rather interpretive at the moment. Our street for example had a high proportion of landlords who (in the current market) seem happy to sell at X price.

But people who own the houses and live in them would have to sell at Y price to be able to move up in this city.

That doesn’t mean that the houses in this street are only worth X. It could equally mean that some ‘motivated’ sellers are simply selling below market value of Y.

I also don’t think that in ‘high demand’ areas you can classify ‘market value’ to say what a house is worth as something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

I watch Rightmove religiously because we are about to buy a house and ta interesting.

House goes on at overinflated price.

Drops 4 weeks later to something more realistic. Really BIG drops too, not like £5k but more £20-£30k.

And then they sit for ages too!

I’m feeling really hopeful that we will be able to bag a house for a much cheaper price. We aren’t first time buyers but won’t be in a chain, so when the house we love has been reduced back in September we stand a good chance of getting a deal

@Jellycat1

To be fair we don’t bother viewing most of them and just wait. It’s just when they finally drop their prices there’s a lot of buyers so you have to be quick.

Anything of any interest or priced well sells within a few weeks. Everything else just waits.

Yes it's fair enough to hope for a bargain for your own family of course, but it's just sad that that will often mean another family being significantly negatively impacted - obviously depending on each set of circumstances. If they can't afford to crystallize a loss then they're stuck.

Your post is more

'AIBU that theres houses I want and owners wont drop it into my prove range. And when they do we arent quick enough to get it'

You seem to be annoyed that people have put something that own up for a price they want to.

You may want a bargain.they pemt member the have to provide it for you.

No at the end of the day they will just sit on the market. If your house has been up for sale round here for more than 6 months there’s something wrong.

Me I’m renting sat on a pile of cash waiting. If someone else buys there fair enough but in most cases they get dropped in price or taken off the market. I’m happy to rent for a couple of years till the right house comes up. But if you bought your house for 60k less than your selling it for and the market hasn’t moved since you bought it you’ll need to justify the price somehow.

All you need to see a house at a price that seems crazy is one buyer who really wants it.

I remember when I was house hunting for my first buy seeing a property that was massively overpriced and had been on the market for 12 months. I put in a low offer as a punt but it was rejected.

I ended up buying with the same estate agent much later. I asked him what happened to the first house and he said it ended in a bidding war between 2 couples and sold for £50k over the asking price!!!

If people aren't in a hurry and can wait it out, you never know what someone will pay - people can get very emotional our perfect house about property if it echoes with them.

I know what you mean. An acquaintance has just sold her house for less than she wanted because time is running out and I reminded her that a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

A common scenario when this happens is a couple separating, ome still living in property, partner wants to sell. The latter is prepared to sell at a lower price but the one living there doesn't as they either don't want to move, or couldn't afford it unless the ridiculous price is asked. There's nothing to otejr can do, so property remains up for sale as silly price.

Ridiculous house prices are not good for productivity. Where I am now prices have been stagnant for at least 2-3 yrs. The 300-400k properties have peaked at 600-700k & the 700-800k at 1m-1.1m. The problem is anyone buying recently has a huge mortgage & not much hope of doubling their money & moving up the ladder & as the bottom rung is now so high less people feeding into the cycle. Cheaper areas will still see growth but everywhere has a ceiling. Plus it’s much harder to borrow a lot of money now. It’s a bit of mess really & I feel sorry for the younger generations.

It really depends on which buyers are in the market at the time the house is for sale. One we looked at this week sold in a day. Not particularly cheap. Near identical house near identical price has been on the market for a couple of months