To think all this talk of a roaring house market is rubbish

[womty]

Or at the very least very localised?

I'm in SW London & in the last month or so almost every 5th house in my area has been put up for sale, some for prices that made me question whether we should do the same. Except now they are getting reduced by 25k plus (houses look pretty much the same) and are still sitting on the market. Plus for many who bought after 2015 the prices are only about 50k higher which once you factor in stamp duty/work is not great. Just me?

In my part of Sussex houses are selling like hot cakes.

I was talking to an estate agent just north of London recently who told me they have never been busier - that's probably a bit of an exaggeration but suffice it to say they are selling a lot of houses.

DM has just put her house on the market in the NW and the agent said she'd never seen anything like it - houses are selling so quickly. She said a lot of people are moving into the area - particularly from the south. Sadly it's not been reflected in viewings of DM's house yet...

@Rubytoosday

Londoner trapped in flat is not a stereotype. A lot of people here lived that life before they were able to escape, since not everyone that lives around London and works on a salary of around £50k is rich or had inheritance to buy. A lot were forced to rent. A lot work there because that's where jobs were. It's an end of an era and the housing market is a symptom of it.

A lot of the buyers are probably London renters. If you suddenly need to commute once a week and you've got 50k saved, which wasn't enough in London as you currently need 15%, you can come to Wiltshire and get a detached 4 bed for 300k and be in Paddington in 1hr15. They're going like mad here.

My area and others I know are absolutely booming. Sadly I think with the new WFH culture the London market is at best stagnating. Even single professionals I know are moving out from London when they no longer have to go to the office 5 days a week.

I'm in south east London/Kent, nothing to sell and just had an offer accepted on a house. A lot of houses are coming onto the market, some over priced so are being reduced within a week or two by around £25,000. I snapped mine up then! I had a lot of choice which was great as back in February when I was checking out houses there wasn't much around.

Depends on the area, lots of people looking to move outside bigger cities

Oh and as a PP said, a few houses have come back on the market after being under offer because buyers are being made redundant/can't get a mortgage. The area I'm buying in rarely has houses for sale, so I'm glad they've all decided to move so I had a choice! Of the houses I've viewed, only one vendor was planning to move 'out of London'. I love living here and my sons are close by.

Everyone is trying to escape from dingy little flats in London.

The house’s are selling fast by mine, This year next door sold for 250K and one across the road went for 265K. Last year about November the one in the corner sold for 185K. Prices have risen dramatically and these latest two were only put up in January. Next door moved the first weekend of lockdown and there is no way l would've of paid 250k for that hovel next door, but they have spent thousands on the back garden.

The 5 bed house opposite us hung around for months then sold for (a very optimistic) asking price during lockdown. It was apparently bought with the proceeds of a two bed London flat with money left over.

I accepted an offer on my house today from the first people to view it...full asking price.
We are in a pretty rural area which appears to be in demand at the moment.

Super fast here, small town semi rural. Saw my estate agent today and said in15 years they have never seen such a hot market

@DdraigGoch

Everyone is trying to escape from dingy little flats in London.

Where did this idea that London has 'dingy little flats' come from? I live in a gloriously green and leafy borough, it's beautiful here. Not 'dingy'

I'm in Bristol and flats and houses are flying off the market!

Prices have gone up around 20% for 4bed houses near me in N London

If its any indication, my conveyancer DH left the office at midnight last night, he's absolutely swamped

It's just the stamp duty holiday effect. We moved a year ago and a smaller house than ours directly opposite has just sold at an asking price of £50K more than we paid - two sets of first time buyers fighting over it. Went in four days. This is zone 4 with easy access to central London but also to the countryside and coast and a High St with coffee shops, good schools, green etc. WFH has tempted the flat buyers to the suburbs and beyond - no longer any need to be near a tube station.

I also don't get it, the stamp duty holiday is just increasing asking prices & whilst I understand people selling flats in zone 1 & moving to a house in Z4, who are they selling their flat to?
The market (SW London) where I am has been pretty stagnant since Brexit but all of a sudden against a backdrop of a recession there are people willing to pay 100k more for a house than last year?
Admittedly prices are started to get reduced where I am now though. We have a good amount of equity & secure ish jobs (can never be too certain) but I am anxious about taking on a bigger mortgage, perhaps I am too cautious. I completely understand why someone renting would snap up a home outside of London now they can remote work however who is buying or planning to buy all the 1m plus homes?

It's just the stamp duty holiday effect.

It can't just be that in isolation. The houses round here around here are about 400-600k

I know two first time buyers who can’t get mortgages

And friends who sold under the asking price

I can’t even get a loan at the moment Ok salary, ok credit rating (but strangely my bank are offering a mortgage)

It's weird but since isolating in a village with a large garden and seeing nobody for months I find myself weirdly attracted to the idea of moving to London.

It's not just the stamp duty holiday effect.

We've been trying to buy for over a year but Brexit concerns meant the market around her was dead. Nothing was coming on the market unless the sellers absolutely had too. Even probate sales were down as people were renting them or holding on before selling.

We found a house now, offer accepted a couple of months ago. We bought at a price comparable to 2019 prices (luckily) but initially missed out to a higher bidder in best and final after 72 hrs on the market.

Prices have definitely increased in the £400-500k price bracket since. Anything over that is selling much slower. As are the traditional first time buyer under £300k houses as these aren't affected by the holiday as much

Meant to say that two years of little movement has caused huge pent up demand around here. Huge numbers of houses coming on the market and selling every week.