To just be so upset about house prices

[spuddy56]

We started looking in December after scrimping and saving for years and its got more and more out of reach with every passing week since then. We've had two sales fall through due to downvaluations, so not only did we need the huge deposit we had saved up for years, we needed 10k on top of that which is impossible for us. We are paying rent and have no family help. We viewed a tiny house that we love and has been on the market since beginning of April with no offers but the seller won't budge on the price. Based on one year of sold prices in the area its about 40k too much, even taking into account the 10% rises over the last 12 months. Theres just no way a mortgage company would lend that much. Been to view another one and it's tiny, has had no offers and is worth a lot less but agents don't think they will go lower. We've had to adjust our expectations down and down despite being what we thought were healthy earners. How are first time buyers managing to buy right now without help?! I'm so so upset at not having somewhere to settle and call a permanent home.

The region with the lowest ratio of house prices to earnings is the most vulnerable to price falls?

That’s a rather, well, interesting view on huge economics of the situation.

No, they haven’t.

House prices are just crazy, average has gone up £50k in past 2 years, so first time buyers need to save up and extra £50k which will take years and years and by that time they will have gone up even more, end result those wanting to settle down and start a family in secure house of their own won't be able to and will not have children.

Well no, as first time buyers don’t tend to buy a house priced at the national average price for all houses.

It's not quite that bad. You only need to now contribute the full price increase if you have already maxed out your salary multiples and need a bigger cash deposit.

Even supposing a £200k house is now a £250k house - a 15% deposit is now £37.5k of savings, instead of £30k. The issue is whether you can borrow the extra £42.5k on a mortgage.

What's your budget OP? And very roughly, what's the area you're looking in?

@NamechangeFML
when I sold my late parents house this year I refused to sell to builders / landlords
I sold it to a family with a little girl
even though they offered 20k over the asking price I had 2 that were 23k and one that was 25k both investors / builders
however my son now has a deposit of 50k from this
and could easily go over that as their is more money available for him if he needs it
he could easily go 20-30k over asking if he needed to but he is doing part buy / rent so it’s a fixed price

Have you looked at Shared ownership?
Where you own a certain % and pay rent on the remaining % you can gradually buy the property outright.

But if the OP can’t afford a house in the area she wants and wants to get out of renting then a flat is the sensible solution. A large garden flat should hold its value, and if the OP is looking for a home rather that a commodity then it would make sense to get out of renting and buy somewhere even if it is a flat. Not all flats are up flights of stairs with no garden or parking.

I feel for you, but the vendors mightnt be able to afford what they plan/hope to do if they dont get the asking price. Like if i put my house up for sale, even if nobody makes an offer, i cant just settle for that first offer if i can't afford to move on. Is there anyway you could use public transport. I never had a car (so, im persona non grata on many threads!!) but i wouldn't have been able to afford a car if id been funding a car.

If the house is not selling because it's over priced or is down valued by surveyors then the vendors need to be realistic and price accordingly. The house doesn't 'owe' them money for their next move. If it's not coming easily then they aren't being realistic.

I completely sympathise with the OP and without sounding disrespectful, people who bought their homes even a few years ago have no idea how hard it is right now.

I used to get extremely upset about not owning our own home and refused the idea of having a DC before buying. But, we now have first DC on the way and staying in our very nice, well located, pretty reasonably priced rental...doesn't seem like the worst idea at the moment. We made a few offers on houses earlier in the year that were unsuccessful, then stopped looking as I couldn't deal with moving at potentially 8/9 months pregnant. But considering how mortgage rates are going to go up, cost of living etc I feel we are probably in the best position for us atm, we know what our living costs are going to be to some accuracy for the next 6-12 months (whilst on mat pay!).

Will wait and see what happens with the market...the dream is still to buy...not a mansion but a 3 bed semi with a garden can't be too much to ask for? We both have good solid jobs, it's a kick in the teeth being told to go for something tiny/crap location etc. I know it's a national crisis and people go through worse but sometimes you just want a good moan about it and be allowed to feel 'it's not fair'.

Prices are coming down don’t buy now !!! X

Avoid Help to buy (sell)

"First-time buyers who used the Help to Buy scheme will see monthly bills soar by up to 55pc as they are hit by a double whammy of interest rate rises and government loan repayments.
Many could be forced to sell up and fall off the housing ladder without government intervention, experts warned.
Paula Higgins, of the Homeowners Alliance advice group, said: “They are stuffed. A perfect storm is brewing.”
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme, which launched in 2013, allows buyers to purchase new-build homes with a 5pc deposit and a 20pc government-backed equity loan (40pc in London). This loan is interest-free for the first five years. After this homeowners must start making payments on the loan.

At first, interest is charged at 1.75pc, but then it increases by the Retail Price Index rate plus one percentage point (or Consumer Price Index plus two points on the current scheme)."
www.telegraph.co.uk/property/uk/help-buy-nightmare-costs-will-surge-42pc-may-forced-sell-house/

Two options. 1. Sit it out. Prices are slowing and may well fall. Now is a risky time to buy. 2. Pay a mortgage advisor. A decent one will save you more than you spend, they have access to a much wider range of mortgages than we have online. You will probably be able to borrow more than you think.

Some of us do realise how impossible house prices and rents are. I'm not sure I believe any significant crash happening but things should dampen a bit.

Yep, our 'starter' house cost £148,000. It's now valued at around £170,000. The next size up starts at £300,000 in the area usually. Sometimes a bit lower, but you lose parking usually. My wage hasn't increased that much obviously so won't be happening for a good few years.

I have traded up from a flat to another flat and then a house. I guess it depends where the flat is but city centre will gain value (assuming no cladding issues)

All of the people saying "just do this, just do that..." have obviously not "just" been buying and selling!

Flats: do any of you realise how much the cladding scandal following the Grenfell fire has affected the market for flats? Massively is the answer!

The housing market is currently in a parlous state. So many sales went through last year to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday that there is very little going to market now - which makes desperate buyers snap up anything that comes on the market at over inflated prices.

I'm convinced that a fall in prices is coming, especially with the inevitable rises in interest rates that are coming. And mortgage lenders will be increasingly reluctant to let borrowers max out with the rises in the cost of living - which have only just begun.

OP I really feel for you. I wish you all the best

We sold a 3 bed flat last year - it was in a low rise block with no cladding though. A garden flat in a conversion wouldn’t have cladding issues. There seems to be a stigma with flat owning on MN, but not all flats are created equal. The only options that OP seems to have is stay renting; move away from their jobs; or broaden their search beyond buying a house as their first purchase.

People have been predicting a property price crash for years now, I think in the medium term at least prices will stagnate rather than plummet as people will decide to stay put rather than sell for less that’s they think their homes are worth.

Exactly this! See also: posters who suggest buying a “doer upper.” How exactly is this property going to be “done up” if the buyer has had to put every penny towards their deposit? Where do they find £25k for the refurb - especially if they have stagnant salaries (NHS etc).

Anyone saying move north where there are plenty of <100k houses are living in cloud cuckooland ! The houses in that price range are cheap for a reason, usually in extremely deprived areas with hugh levels of crime and anti social behaviour, poor schools and limited job opportunities. Certainly not places you want to have a family in..

I don't think I was advising the OP to bankrupt herself whatsoever.

What I was saying, is that I just don't buy the blanket 'we can't get on the property ladder'.

Where there are a couple who are both working, and have some degree of deposit saved, it is eminently possible to get on the property ladder in this country. Although that may very well not be the type of property you'd like, in the condition that you'd like, in the location that you like.

People also forget that the term property ladder implies 'moving up'. So if you want the off-road parking, garden, extra bedroom or whatever, you often have to plan for this and do it by moving from one property to another. Which is why I say to make a 5-year plan... OK, so don't move every year (in any case stamp duty may put paid to that). But over time, you need to increase the value of what you have, improve your equity and keep going.

Oh and throw in a shitload of commuting, borrowing, trying to get promotions, and renovating crap properties. I know, I've done it.

I live in a lovely house in a lovely area. Hasn't always been like this. But there are lots of people who wouldn't consider where we live because it's 'not good enough' in some way.

@LetticePray exactly! My parents keep sending me links to (expensive!) doer uppers and I keep saying we wouldn't have the money to do it up and they just don't understand. They didn't even need a deposit when they bought 😣 these are the sort of doer uppers which need significant work and are not livable btw, I'm not talking redecorating to an instagrammable level. Because of course someone will think I am...

In real terms, they absolutely have.