When does the Christmas slump start and how long does it last?

[hanette]

Have sold a month ago (yipee) but currently nothing suitable on the market. Well there is one, but it's overpriced IMO and the owner has declined my offer

Since then no new arrivals fitting my criteria and I'm getting a bit nervous that'll be it now til Jan!

Anyone have any idea whether it'll be total shutdown or if things will still come on the market over the next 4 weeks? I'm in North London

Advice much appreciated

I'm in London too - I think most people wait until January/February if it's a family house you're looking for. Sorry. There's too much going on at this time of year to start worrying about viewings and all that as well. There's also the post-Christmas effect - estate agents claim that a week of their partner (and their extended families) is enough to push many couples over the edge and they decide to split up in the new year which also causes more houses to come onto the market.

Hi lala thank you - yes sadly that's what I suspected. Terrible about people splitting up over new year, I'd not considered that how depressing. Do you reckon there is also a dearth of buyers? Am thinking my one house that has declined my offer may feel the chilly wind of no viewers/offers and get back to me!

I hope so too as we're in a similar situation just outside London! Practically nothing suitable, and the few things that are suitable are disappearing. There was a lot more a few months back.

We can't apply for an AIP until we get DH's salary and bonus details which will be "any day now" and in the meantime the small collection of houses available of the right size and in the right area at an affordable price has dwindled to one or two "probably nots" and nothing else.

Crispy hope you find somewhere. At least getting the AIP for me took a day so when you get your figures at least there should be a delay there. I have been watching all these fantastic properties fly past my view for months and now it's a property desert!

I don't know about buyers - estate agents I know say they are pretty busy and properties I keep an eye on seem to sell very quickly. There is a real shortage of supply a the moment in my area and that has perhaps perpetuated the problem: no one wants to sell because, although they'd be guaranteed a pretty good price, the hassle involved in finding somewhere else just makes most people prefer to stay put.

Lala if I remember right from the auction thread I think you are a pro? The house where they have declined my offer is up for 15% in price over and above the last sale price, which only exchanged last month. The house is virtually identical, a little but bigger but same number of rooms/layout/style (on a newish estate). Do prices go up 15% in a matter of weeks in your experience?

I will give you a couple of examples of how mad the market has gone in SW London: my parents live on a street of very similar 1930s semis (some have had loft conversions and are extended at the back, some not but otherwise identical in terms of size and layout). The most any house on their street has sold for is £765,000, the most recent sale was their next-door neighbour in August at £750,000. There is now a house on their street for sale at £1.25 million...

I recently saw a flat I was interested in on rightmove. I clicked on the details to find out more about it and a set of old details came up saying that the price wasn't £230,000 as advertised but £180,000. I checked and found it had started at £180,000 in January but, unable to sell it, the seller had raised the price to £230,000. When I phoned again it was still unsold but the price was now £280,000 "but the vendor may be prepared to take an offer..."

I went with a friend to look at a flat a couple of weeks ago. It was nice enough and she wanted to offer on it - the price was £170,000. She offered £175,000 an hour later but had already been beaten to it by a cash buyer who offered £200,000.

It is CRAZY out there at the moment. Vendors think that they can ask almost any price and, more often than not, they seem to be getting it.

Lala thanks for this info. It's very useful to have (albeit v depressing!!). Your parents must be pleased though

I will have a chat to DH - might be worth us upping our offer on the house we like

Crispy I meant *shouldn't!

We're in the same position, well almost. We've almost sold our property and have missed out in a whole host of lovely places due to us not being ready to proceed. Now that we are looking it's a desert out there!

Lalalonglegs - where in sw london did your friend find a flat with an asking price of £170k? Was it ex-local authority?

We've had the house valued last week. Now sure what others will do, but have decided to delay putting it on the market until the first week in January as we got the house fairly tidy for the agents and now have xmas prezzies and decorations everywhere. Also, we see loads of friends and family on the run up to Christmas as well as over Christmas, so I don't want to have to worry about entertaining and viewings.

You probably know, but if you look on Rightmove you can search for properties which have been put on the market in the last 3 or 7 days, so might be worth keeping an eye on this in case anything does come up.

Thanks starfish - I'm hoping lots of others will be going on the market. In fact am excited about actually being a buyer after so long in the seller stage!

Am addicted to Rightmove - got all the alerts set up and it's the first thing I do in the morning on my phone - got to get a grip!