To ask whether you’d still buy / sell home during this period of uncertainty

[Summerzig]

We are preparing to sell our house as we’d like to upgrade to a larger home (bigger mortgage) and have been busy searching on Rightmove for a few months now to get a feel of what’s out there. Compared to when we bought our current house only a couple of years ago, supply seems to be very short and the properties that are on the market appear to be taking a long while to sell, some after multiple reductions. The estate agents we have spoken to all claim it is due to the uncertainty with Brexit etc. and people are reluctant to sell and take on bigger mortgages. It hasn’t put us off at all but it’s got me thinking, are we missing something? 😳 Interested to hear views from those in a similar boat!

I assume you live down South, as up in the North houses are selling fast, and prices are going up.

FTB here, yes I bought recently. I’ve noticed that there are less houses for sale now that there were this time last year and even back in Jan with several that I viewed and was interested in being taken off the market without being sold. Two of those were rental properties so I suppose those selling found it more sensible to have additional cash coming in regularly rather than selling.

Market in our particular city region of NW is thriving, house on our street went for above asking in a week.

We are looking to buy in the SW. My only fear is being trapped in negative equity if prices drop significantly. However we are planning to be in it for a long long time so not a big issue really. I don’t know the market here well but it is certainly slow.

We're in London and we sold and moved in November to a bigger house with a bigger mortgage. We got less for our house than we probably would have 18 months earlier but we also paid less than we might have expected to for the place we bought.

However, we were extremely pragmatic. If the worst came to it and prices dropped by, say 30%, could we take the hit? We did the sums and worked out that we could. I'd do similar and work out some worst-case scenarios. If you could keep your head above water in a crash then now could be a good time to snap up a great deal, provided both you and the seller are willing to be realistic about the value of the property you're trading.

However, if your jobs are precarious or you're nervous about the level of debt, I'd hang fire.

And a note re the boom in the north. Exactly the same thing happened in Leeds and Manchester just before the last recession. A frenzy of building, especially in the city centres. Houses and flats selling for lots of money. They were the areas hardest hit in 2007. I'm from the NW and see it as a barometer of the economic cycle. I would be more nervous about making a big purchase now in these regions, having seen how it impacted friends last time.

I should point out that yes, we are in the South!

Whatever you do, make sure it's a fixed rate mortgage you get. Do not even consider variable rates. They are unlikely to stay low.

If you're looking for a long term house then buy. If it's short term, don't bother. You'll probably lose a lot of money if it's short term.

We bought a house recently but I'm not planning on moving ever really and have a secure job so think we are OK. Of course you never know but should be fine.

Just about to sell and upsize in the south and in an area that is generally considered to be one of the safer bets for property.

The market is definitely a bit strange and your summary is right, stuff moving slowly and those that need to move have been prepared to drop price.

Loads of people that came to view ours weren’t even on the market themselves and that seems to be a trend whereas my previous experience was people generally got an offer and then started to look, so that in itself is slowing the market down with longer, slower chains.

In terms of is it a good time to move. Personally I think that if you are upsizing and it’s a long term move and you won’t be forced to move area for work in the medium term then it should be ok in the longer term. Any market wobble or correction post Brexit will likely bounce back within 5 years or so and you won’t need to move in that period.

It’s also not a bad time to lock down a fixed rate, I suspect those will creep up in the next couple of years.

I think the key thing in this is to not end up doing an emotional move because you simply love house X and will pay asking price whilst taking a hit on your sale. We, I think, have been fortunate in that our vendor needs to move, so whilst we are selling at undervalue, they’ve come down with us to some extent so I feel I’m selling low buying low. If I felt we were selling low and buying high I wouldn’t have done it as right now I don’t need to move, I just wanted to.

What@Blueoasis said 👍👍👍

I don’t understand why brexit is having such an effect unless ones job is related (ie might vanish). Interest rates may go up but that’s been on the cards for years. I don’t think that prices will drop significantly either. Market is a bit stagnant here but people always have to move for one reason or another. I get alerts for one part of London and the decent properties go - the oddly laid out/borderline ones (like next to train tracks etc) don’t.

I'd sell if I wanted to. Properties are being sold here with no problem - SE London/Bromley area.

I am mid divorce the house will meed to be sold uncertain times or not

We're in the process of selling and buying. We'll be getting a five year (low) fixed rate so if there is a storm coming at least we know where we stand.

We sold within 3 weeks but are having a little more trouble finding the right place for us because we're moving to a new area.

In process of buying and selling. No idea when the uncertainty will end, will have a decent amount of equity in the house so highly unlikely that we will end up in negative equity.

Houses here - SE near London - selling fast still. Mine went in one day.

My DM has just bought a home and my DF has just accepted an offer on his!

They are both South West. We're in London and houses still seem to be selling fast.

OP IMHO there will always be people who need/want to move.
London has taken a fairly big dive recently - not just re Brexit but because the City seems to be restructuring and losing jobs which clearly impacts on overall house prices. So that can affect the whole of the South. I think people are reconsidering moving unless they have to and adapting homes instead, given the costs of moving and the prospect of inflation, hence the lack of properties on the market. However mine appears to be going within the first week.

I wouldn't buy now if I was a first time buyer with a minimal deposit. Upgrading/downgrading maybe, but I'd want a decent amount of equity. Some areas haven't recovered from the last crash, so I guess it depends where you are as well.

I'm just grateful I don't need to move as the risk is higher atm.

Currently looking to buy. Want to stay in the property for at least the next 5 years so not overly worried about a wobble in the market.

You’d think if sellers were worried about a slump they’d have them all on the market now at the “peak” but there is very little around.

We’re in NI and busting to buy instead of rent, but DH works across the border and we can’t risk it until there’s a plan, backstop or whatever.