Is it wise to purchase a house as a first time buyer in the current market....

[Muller]

Help, any comments welcome. DP and i are currently looking a buying our own home (in housing assocation rented at present), Mortgage would be 137k as we have saved a fair deposit. Does anyone think it is a good time to buy, or would it be better to wait a while ie with interest rates going up and a possible crash on the cards - any suggestions welcome.....

Swings and roundabouts tbh. If you wait the asking prices may stabilise and lower a bit (not sure it will though let alone crash, partly depends where you are) but borrowing could cost you more if interest rates rise again. atm as a ftb you could probably get a decent fixed rate package plus you could negotiate a keen price for a quick sale but presumably you could save for a larger deposit by staying put longer.

Dunno. It's a non-issue for us.

Hmm. I think I would buy. There is no sign of a slow down in this area - prices are still rising. My perception is that there was a bit of a plateau over 2004 and 2005 but since then prices have been on the rise again.

It's different in different areas though. Someone linked to a site a while ago that showed the trend in particular areas. I don't know if I could find it though.

I think buy. It's impossible to predict or wait for the 'right time'. Just check and check and check again that you can comfortably make the repayments, even allowing for rate rises. Fixed rate mortgages are more and more difficult to find at the moment so shop around and note ALL the small print.

The Coventry B/S have some excellent capped rates so you still beenfit if theres a drop in rates

We bought last year and went through the same dilemmas as you. We also lived in housing association and I was constantly wondering why I should EVER buy, when the rent is so cheap, you are guaranteed to live there permanently and everything is fixed for free. But we needed an extra bedroom and the HA told me that we would probably not get one for years and years.

We are in south east (bedfordshire), so prices have been rising alarmingly over the last few years. Gut instinct is to buy, tho fair comment 2sprogsmum, life is pretty simple in housing assocation property, and luckily we do have enough bedrooms, and in a reasonable area. We did try to purchase our HA property but ,they advised as the property was built post 1994, we werent allowed!! THAT would have been ideal as would have been given a 13k discout to start us off. Think we will go for it, thanks for your comments

Experts have been predicting the prices to crash for years and, if anything, the houses have became more and more expensive.

I would buy, chances are that in a years time that money is not enough to buy at all.

One economic theory says that the market crashes when everybody agrees prices will be going up

Ask you HA about shared ownership properties in the area, that's a great way to go - if prices slump you'll be able to buy the rest of the house quicker! They'll also have other schemes like Homebuy and equity loans and as a tenant you'd be top of their list as you'd be freeing up your current home.