House prices What is going on?

[flopseyR72]

I am looking to buy a house. Have been waiting since before lockdown. I’m in rented so not selling.the estate agent has just told me the marker where I am Greater London east ( golden triangle Loughton Chigwell to Epping and brentwood) is going crazy. I just don’t understand why people don’t seem to care about a imminent economy recession coming. Does anyone think I should just buy now or wait. I’ve been waiting a long time and wasting money on rent.

@Alsohuman she could wait a year and there is more clarity then. Also more time for the unemployment rate to rise to 10%-20%. Repossessions flooding the market etc.

I would be very surprised if London house prices went up as many people seem to be moving out.

If you don't want to buy, don't. If you do better make your mind up and get on with it. Near me the more you delay the more you'll pay. Cant speak for the rest of the UK but south of Manchester prices are still rising. EG 5 bed family semi in a (less salubrious area) town centre sold for £900k plus recently. Small garden, main road. Other attached semi converted into flats.

Alsohuman, desiringonlychild's analysis at 14:26 was a little more than that. You might disagree with it but unlike most PPs, at least they set out the basis for the opinion. To me, what they said looks sensible.

But you lose your job and you're stuck with a bigger mortgage? And more outgoings??

Not everyone is in a job that is at risk, there are plenty of sectors that are pretty stable. It is incredibly unlikely that DH and I would lose our jobs, I won't say impossible as nothing is impossible, but it is extremely unlikely. The OP is NHS and unlikely to be at risk.

I doubt prices will drop in London for decent sized properties.

Friend of mine had their 3-bed with small garden on the market last year and then took it off, did about £2k of work, had EAs round 2 weeks ago and it's gone on the market for 20% more than it was at last year. Had more viewings this week than in 6 months last year.

Buy the house you like the look of and you'll be happy living in. Settle in and make it lovely and forget about timing the market? There's always someone times it better than you and you're in a great position.

Hope you have that cash spread across multiple banking corporate groups, OP.

I'd be more worried about losing 85% on a permanent bank insolvency than 10% on a temporary house market drop.

I agree with PP. unless you’ve recently received 500k in a lump sum then why wouldn’t you have bought a smaller investment property to live in instead of throwing money away on rent?

You have a very decent deposit, you should be in a great position. I'd buy when you find something you like but would definitely be looking now

I live just outside the area the Oo is talking about and prices are going through the roof. Previously we could have bought a decent 4/5 bed for around 500/550. Now those houses are on for 650k and people are buying them. Not sure exactly how much for as it takes a while for the system to update but I can’t imagine people are dropping 100k in the first week of the house going on the market. It’s crazy.

I live in SW London and the prices have went even crazier here than usual. People are buying and a four bed house will be in demand. Yes pokey flats in horrible areas may struggle to sell, but a decent size home in a good area will hold its value.

You can thank the government and the chancellor for the rise in house prices from scrapping the stamp duty so that buyers have now increased their prices so buyers and first time buyers have to pay all time record highs for a house, sellers are being given billions of pounds of public money which should be spent on the covid 19 crisis not propping up property prices and making home owners even richer!

If there is a crash, the only properties coming into the market will be those from people forced to sell because they've lost their jobs or they have to relocate. People in negative equity stay put. People who think their house has gone down in value stay put. This is a home. Providing that you're planning to stay there long term and can afford the mortgage then you won't be particularly impacted by a crash and can ride it out over the 20-30 years you'll own it.

I live in one of the areas you have mentioned, yes it’s a expensive area and the prices have not gone down since I moved here a few years back they just rise so if you want to move I would suggest you do now as you should get a good property for the 500k you have.

My complete non expert opinion is just to buy now. I know of people who waited and waited years ago for a crash that never came and then got permanently priced out. Houses are unlikely to lose so much value in the time you're likely to live there that it wasn't worth you buying when you could.

Though the fact we have to think about this is a sign of how terrible the system is. This shouldn't be happening on something as vital as a dwelling.

I don't know if it matters, but things could be different because this financial situation, unlike 2008, wasn't caused by actual bad mortgage lending.

If you are buying a place to make a home, then it’s not really about trying to play the market. With a large deposit, the negative equity risk isn’t there, that’s the only nightmare scenario I’d worry about.

It’s never the perfect time as in when prices start to drop more people start to buy.

I bought my first flat in 2009 during the credit crunch and it felt like no one was ever going to buy a house again. Mortgage was 4.38% for two year fixed. I still made over £150k on the place six years later.

But she may save a bit of money by waiting

She may also loose. Why position one side only?

Op are you the poster who earns over a hundred grand a year working part time for the nhs who has posted before?

We live close to Manchester and in our area houses are flying off the shelves of the EA's. We were interested in a house which was on at 545k and it sold for 580k as the offers went ever higher. They are selling so fast that you can't even get to view as they have gone before they go online to those waiting to buy.

I would find a house you love and buy it. Now.

As others have said it's a mixture of the stamp duty holiday and people realising their house isn't what they wanted. We have had about 5 leaflets through our door in as many weeks asking us to consider selling up

@flopseyR72

I was looking for advise on house market because I get anxious about it

With 500k in your magic money pot why on earth are you getting anxious? You can buy a house in many parts of the country and have money left over, you could buy two houses where I live.

I put my house back on the market this morning, as my buyers are being fucking idiots, I have 4 viewings all with no chain.
I also live in a London Bubble, this market is booming.
Why on earth would you be sitting on all that money, not earning interest, and paying rent. Make the money work for you, any money you pay off the mortgage is a step closer to you living mortgage free, something that you cant say about renting.
I know the area and think a monthly mortgage payment would be less than rent per month.

The houses around here are flying off the shelf and going for more than is being asked. I can't really understand it.

I live in another capital city, also with ridiculous prices (500k for a knackered 2.5bed semi needing work, still with a mile walk to public transport and another 30 mins into the city).

We bought in the middle of lockdown, further out, but a massive detached house with a nice big garden, a house we'll be happy to stay in for the foreseeable future with space for offices etc.

We did wobble, in case of a crash, but decided that there's always that risk, and we're buying to live, not for investment so we should buy what we want. If you want to settle in a nice house where you are, then just do it. Our house can drop 5% in value and it's still only 1 year's rent, and we'll have been in a much nicer house, with lower bills (because we control everything and can make the house efficient)

I think people are in a rish to buy or more before they lose their job or tighter lending restrictions come in. Owning is still cheaper than renting so it does make sense. As furlough comes to an and and jobs go it will probably slow down.