The property market

[Jbrown76]

What's going in your area?

Mine has loads of reductions, 20+ houses being added every day, over 1200 houses for sale within a 5 mile of my house. There has never been this many...and it's big houses, band E+ on council tax, are people bigger houses selling due to increase of cost to heat homes in winter? Is it interest rates on a £500k house are too expensive and people are selling up to get a cheaper house?

@Saschka nope - wealthy rural area ! Pre Covid was one of the cheapest places in the country for property. In the last 5 years prices have gone up about 60%. I was hoping they would come back down and stop being so silly but there’s one small village estate agent who has most of the business who just keeps inflating prices. Horrendous.

Surely the agent can't inflate prices?

@limeadelover
my son is buying in Bristol in Whitchurch
the house he is buying was up for 330 he got it for 315 but the sellers own several property in the street and refurbished all of them over a few years

but it’s perfect for him 3 bed 2 bath completely refurbished to a high spec

one that he looked at has just come back on the market originally it was up at 325 in June now it’s offers over 300k
and similar drops on other places that he looked at

he could probably offer a bit less on his house but the house is fab it’s chain free and the sellers are really nice- he’s buying with an inheritance so not actually costing him his own money ( if that makes sense)

I’ve seen a lot of flats in paintwork’s on the bath rd drop from 350’to around 270 . for two bed 2 baths

My neighbors has his house up for 495 no way is he going to get that ( but he doesn’t want to move - his wife wants to 😂)

a few streets away one tiny two bed gorgeous two bed house has dropped from 395 - 350 but I reckon it needs to be under 300 to get any real interest

we sold my late parents house right by Victoria Park last April for just under 400k & that was a door upper as well
now I think we would be lucky to get 325 for it probably less

@Fightyouforthatpie I would say about 95% of all house sales in about a 5 mile radius go to the village estate agent. He sets the valuations at what he feels it’s worth. But it doesn’t seem to reflect the national markets, I know there can be hot spots/ bubbles, but as I said- the prices this year are just going up and up and up still.

@gillygeey yes but a lot of people haven’t had to remortgage yet. And I can see legislation to prevent homes being turned into holiday homes too- some towns are already doing it. And Airbnb being more regulated too etc. It’s long overdue- a house is a home not an investment.

Also, the government can’t print money to bail out either as it will make the inflation problem worse. It’s QE that’s caused some of this mess too- far too much pandemic printy printy.

London is another country as far as I am concerned. what happens there, what gets spent there, public transport, ulez, everything else has no effect on those of us that live in rural areas. property prices are high but then so are wages and far too many investors have been allowed to buy up flats, that they let sit empty then sell at a profit to another person doing the same thing.

I've just sold in SE London and relieved about the timing tbh (wasn't buying at the same time). Almost lost my buyer at one point and the agent was panicking about the market being very bad. 😬 Sold for £5k over the guide price but £20k less than the previous valuation when I remortgaged two years ago. Two bed flat in a period conversion, upper floor so no outside space.

There's another flat someone is selling on the same road that's been hanging around on the market for months now. It has a garden but a short lease and is probably overpriced.

@TheColourofspring I just don't see a massive correction, more some small falls & then stagnation as so much is driven by equity. We never recovered from the 08 crash.

Very little has come on to the market here. We have been looking since spring. Same old houses have been on for nearly a year. Some are starting to make small reductions but nothing much moving. We have a buyer for ours but cannot find one we either want to or can afford to buy with the current interest rates. Several houses that were on for ages last year have come back on recently which makes me thing the sales fell through too.

Prices haven't really changed in my area, a London suburb. Apparently lots of people are moving here from inner London zones because the houses are big with big gardens. Flats are actually going up in price. But very little on the market anyway.

And I can see legislation to prevent homes being turned into holiday homes too- some towns are already doing it. And Airbnb being more regulated too etc. It’s long overdue- a house is a home not an investment.

With Labour do you mean @TheColourofspring? I'd love to see a legislative way to tackle the holiday home problem but not sure the Tories are the ones.

Bridgwater Somerset. Prices continuing to rise, especially at top end of market due to demand from skilled workers at Hinkley Point. Hard to rent, hard to buy here. Was a cheap town; is no longer. Attractive villages also strong.

@PinkCherryBlossoms possibly on a more local level. St Ives for example have done it and it was the local council acting. Other places looking at it. Wales too. It’s an outrage when local people have no home because there are so many holiday homes.

I didn't know that about St Ives. I'll read up, it sounds interesting.

Where we live has gone mad house price wise as it’s on a fast route to London but still quite a distance so much cheaper than London. Had a lot of people move up from London who work mainly at home but go down once a week or so, new neighbours do this. Locals are pretty peeved at this because it’s pushed prices up.

We are looking to move about 30 minutes further North and as it’s just that bit too far for commuting and not on a fast train line, it’s much cheaper. We are starting to look at areas and prices, it’s too uncertain at the minute to make the move.

Small village. Lots of houses for sale but none selling. Massive houses being built in village in really unsociable places (road noise in this area is terrible) but listed on RightMove for a million
pounds. It’s completely bizarre.

A fair amount on the market in my area, no reductions and all seem to shift within about six to eight weeks still. Maybe a slight price softening. Very much not a holiday area and mostly owner-occupier.

Steady. It's a popular area (SW London, good primaries, parks and walkable to tube/train). Properties don't tend to hang about for long. I'd say the prices are still higher than when I bought exactly two ago - then there were a few for £900-£1m, now they are all over £1m, even the ones that have been reduced, and the average is over £1.1m. Rentals get snapped up immediately.

It looks like there are some more reductions around here/properties taking longer to sell and there are more on the market than there has been since the pandemic, but still not as many as when we bought in 2019. I think maybe with interest rates being higher at the moment some people who’ve got their current mortgage on good fixes are staying put (that’s us) and a lot of people are also waiting to see if rates come down a bit before either upsizing or becoming FTBs. I’m in Berkshire.

In Surrey near Gatwick.
I mainly eep an eye on the detached 4 or 5 bed houses as that is what I want to move into and they are still massively over priced.

There are price reductions of £50k to £1.55m which is still a laughable price.

One has has been reduced from £2.45 to £1.75 m and still hasn't been snapped up.

People haven't accepted that there houses aren't 'worth' what they were 18 months ago.

One house was put on a year ago at an over inflated place, I remember saying to the agent that it seemed a bit pricey to be told that they were on the crest of the wave and the market would catch it. Well, it's still sat there year later.

In the last couple of years it has been sealed bids and insane prices.

Honestly? Mine is going up and I’m getting nervous. I had wanted to buy this year! I’m going to have to rethink neighbourhood. (London.)

I am seeing absolutely no sign of the supposed price drop.

Property market is very stable where I am. Probably not as much being put on as usual, but the ones that are are being snapped up very fast. Houses are being valued at crazy prices though. We bought our house pre-covid for about £500,000....current valuations (based on price per sq foot) would put it closer to £900,000. It's insane.
In the north in a very desirable affluent area.

My village has a steady stream of houses but they are getting sold signs up. No idea if near asking price.

But last week we drove down to the south coast aling a regular route we take. and I have never seen so many for sale boards on the journey.

Currently pregnant with third baby living in a 2 bed flat… we went on the market in early July, had one viewing which was a thanks but no thanks and then crickets… reduced asking price by £10k in mid August, one more viewing, thanks but no thanks, now crickets again. It’s thoroughly depressing and I don’t know when or if we’ll be able to get out of here.

We are in a sought after area & prices are still creeping up. Especially family homes, there is a shortage of supply and high demand. I'm glad we bought when we did (2021).