Will COVID-19 cause the housing market to 'crash' ?

[Ripleylady]

I don't pretend to know a thing about house price forecasts, so I would love to see wider opinions about the impact that the virus outbreak will have on the economy and housing market in the UK.

Do you think that covid will be the cause of a housing crash/steep fall in prices?

What is everyone's opinions on buying and selling in the next 12+ months? (obviously, only when viewing properties etc is safe and allowed once again)

It wont do it any good

Hopefully 😉 (from a long term renter who is unable to get on the housing ladder)

It will definitely cause a daily thread about a house price crash

I think people will struggle to get a mortgage unless they have a massive deposit.

we've pretty much stopped building though too the current high demand will still be there when we are able to start buying/selling again. it mainly depends on how peoples jobs and mortgage rates end up at the end if this.

@fluffdeloop
That was my thinking too, until my husband pointed out that as unfortunately a lot of people might die, it is also likely that there will be a fair amount of properties put up on the market. An awful and scary thought, really.

I think it will drop but not crash but then along period of stagnation as banks won’t be offering 95% mortgages anymore.

Is there a new thread about this every day? The housing market can’t currently crash as it’s been suspended. Nobody can buy, sell or even move currently.

Creating a new thread everyday salivating over the prospect of people sick and dying so you can move into their home is creepy at best.

Anybody whose industry and in turn income has collapsed won't be able to get a mortgage for a while. That is a lot of people. Less demand.

Some people (sadly) won't recover their income enough to keep hold of their homes in the longer term despite help from the banks and government - more supply.

Banks knowing that a drop in house prices is possible will likely tighten lending and require larger deposits- further reducing demand as people can't buy.

I think house prices will fall a little due to these reasons. I don't think they would "collapse" as people try not to sell houses for less than they want. People just tend to hang onto their house (if they can) and sit tight/extend/rent out.

i don't think most people dying are going to be single people currently living in their own homes. theres likely to be surviving partners/ family or a larger number of already elderly in care homes etc.

All those hoping prices fall so that they can afford them, i've got some bad news for you.

If you can't afford a house now, you won't be able to afford one in a housing crash either. The banks lending will be massively reduced as there is simply too much risk for them.
I had a partner who worked approving mortgages and he told me that in cases like this they won't consider lending to people who have less than a 60% deposit due to the risk and the fact that anything below this requires a survey to be done, which simply isn't going to happen any time soon.

@Tellmetruth4 Yawn. Keep scrolling. I've not seen another thread on it, that's why I started one. I've nothing to gain from the market crashing, just genuinely interested in what others think.

Never gets any less crass those who are rubbing their hands together awaiting the absolute ruination of others lives and finances so they can 'get on the ladder' just because they feel they're owed it and it's their turn .

DP is 40 and I am 32, we have rented our entire lives, got a fairly small inheritance last year and bought a house which completed the day of lockdown which we now cannot move into and are going to have to pay rent and mortgage on concurrently at some point, which we cannot afford. Also acutely aware the only inheritance either of us will ever get, that we used as deposit will likely be deducted from the value of the home now because of this so is effectively lost. It's currently not habitable even if we were able to hire a van and move, as it's all we could afford- we even moved an hour away TO afford it. The money leftover to get a working boiler and remove damp will likely go on keeping afloat in an extended lockdown.

Not everyone who owns is a bloody privileged individual who has it easy, shame on anyone who hopes for others misery in any form for their own opportunity- take a long hard look at yourselves and what it says about you I don't recall hoping for that once when we hoped to buy but couldn't. I do remember wishing I'd made more of my own life though, in order that I had earned more to facilitate a buy...

What @dontgobaconmyheart said.

@dontgobaconmyheart How shit.
There will be loads of people in similar situations sadly, especially if interest rates start to rise. I've got young family members who have recently bought their first properties by skimping and saving, but are now petrified that interest rates will rise and they won't be able keep up with higher payments. Throw into the mix the chance of a reduction in prices and banks tightening lending criteria, and it really is a horrific potential situation.

There are too many factors to know, but if prices drop then that means the economy is bad enough for lending to drop too. So any FTB hoping for a sudden 50k drop in the house they want may find they suddenly need 3 times the deposit.

The market will not be easier for anyone except cash rich buyers with big deposits. If you're thinking you can bag a bargain because others are losing their homes then shame on you and it won't happen anyway. The banks are pulling their lending tighter already. Halifax and Barclays now require 60% LTV ratio, so you need a massive 40% deposit. Not looking so favourable for vultures now is it.

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-8155585/Halifax-Barclays-scrap-new-mortgages-40-deposit.html

people still need houses, they are not gonna suddently drop to become affordable for those that didn't bother to save or work hard for a deposit and rightly so..

what about us that have saved and worked hard for years, why should we be suddenly be in negative equity.. :/

Our mortgage rate has just dropped so that will help some people

The government isn’t going to be able to keep everyone solvent and insurers are refusing to pay out. If there is going to be a drop, the mid range of the housing market (owned by people who were earning well but not rich) will be hardest hit.

@isitsummertimeyet I can’t believe you are attaching a moral element to this? What about people who are gifted deposits? What about people who’ve suffered bad luck and haven’t been able to financially recover? Bonkers.

Creating a new thread everyday salivating over the prospect of people sick and dying so you can move into their home is creepy at best.

Yup. Everyone who is now planning on buying nice and cheap is forgetting that banks might just not lend them and/or they won't have jobs. And it's quite distasteful atm.

what about us that have saved and worked hard for years, why should we be suddenly be in negative equity

Yep I feel awful for everyone in this situation.

I'm sad for myself too as me and DH have been saving and saving and were literally about to buy our first house and now this it's probably going to set us back years now, I'm devastated.

I think one of the most dangerous things to have happened in our society before this is the start of only seeing the polarised arguments in a discussion. Isn’t it possible to recognise that some people are so desperate that they are hoping to see some change in the market in their favour whils not wanting it to be at the expense of others losses?

That those who worked hard and saved deserve their gain but so to do others in less well paid roles who due to illness, unforeseen circumstance weren’t able to buy.

We have allowed the discussion to be reduced to a politicised, media friendly interpretation of society and that doesn’t reflect who we are.

@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow

No, the only ones being that ghoulish are you.