What the housing market like in your area?

[systemsmalfunction]

It managed to bounce back to 2007 highs last year and I'm told the first time buyers market is particularly strong locally.

As others have pointed out it is quite stark how London differs from many other areas. I have family in the west country and midlands and prices are stagnating/falling and people struggle to sell. Sometimes I dream of buying something small in one of these two places and having lots of disposable income to have fun with

Mirrors the job market - affluent high flying two income couples round here, almost everyone I know in the other two areas scraping by on minimum wage or unemployed and barely managing

I am not sure even £100K a year (with SAHM wife+kids) can give you a family house these days. Without massive deposit/inheritance already available or flats in gentrified areas. A lot in the SE area are FTB I found out - hence exclamation! They didn't look very young though, mind - so probably had years of savings.

Did Help To Buy scheme help anyone at all?

The cheaper 3 bed semi's are selling like hotcakes ie £165,000 gone in 2 days, the higher end £295,00 downwards take a couple of months depending on how nice they are.

Detached 3/4 beds are selling faster than semis are are only slightly more expensive.

The detached we are buying was on market last year but didn't sell (it needs major facelift as not touched since 80's)

This year it took 2 months to sell (we ended up in mini bidding war!)

Still getting over-optimistic sellers round here - those houses then just sit on the market for ages. Reasonably priced houses / houses in decent condition going quick.

Agree London and commuter belt is very different from other parts of the country and as most of the jobs created recently have been in London, this probably explains some of it.

Where I am in the SW, prices have barely moved in 2/3 years and only recently increased slightly. Local people remain priced out for the most part, especially if needing a family sized house. I hope prices remain stagnant as I don't believe it's in anyone's interests to see another bubble happening.

I just looked on Rightmove, and houses that were on for £1 million last month (four bed terraces, fourth bed usually loft) are now going for £1.1 million. A 10% rise in a month.

I live in a new village, where they are still building whole new streets.

New homes have gone up about 5% in the last year.

With Help to Buy and other incentives for new homes, the market for reselling is as dead as a very dead thing. As you would expect.

Another SE London and yes it is utterly crazy - sealed bids and open houses.
Good housing, being in zone 2, new overground transport links, but still crazy.
We're staying put as we love our area, school, friends etc, but there is a part of me that wonders if it would be sensible to cash in.

where would you go though Grey? Would you move right out of London?

That's the thing Sooky, I have no desire to do that, daughter settled at school, easy commute, love our house etc, so no. I could only imagine moving to a slightly cheaper area in London, next 'up and coming' or wherever, although everywhere SE seem sto be crazy expensive. I'm staying I guess .

"hyperspacebug - in general round here it's two income professionals with very high flying careers who've sold one or two smaller flats in previously more desirable areas"

The only couple I know who can afford a house of £800k are exactly this. Both in mid 30's, no kids, spend the last 15 years advancing in their careers. He bought flat in SW london which doubled in value in last 5 years as did she. Therefore massive deposit and they still have a huge disposable income. Several of their friends are in the same boat.

Not typical though IMO. My friends and I all earn way above national average but are only just getting on the ladder now with £300-400k houses which in this area are all bog standard 3 bed semis which need work.

Tis crazy but this is where our life is and I don't want to move.

London so it's totally bonkers. Not many properties coming on market, when they do they are being sold within 24 hours for full asking price, often going to sealed bids.

prices have gone up by about 25% in past year

Are we expecting the London bubble to ripple out reaching other areas? Or burst leaving a trail of devastation? What happened to London in 2007 when things generally went pear shaped nationally? My area is buoyant but not loopy now. Surely huge increases are not maintainable?

I'm thinking of selling my 500k 5 bed (ex council) house (inside M25, zone 6) and moving out to the country with my young family. Perhaps North Oxfordshire. Am I mad?

Prices are rising fast here (though not as fast as inner London), maybe 10% every year or 18 months, but really we are desperate for a more rural lifestyle. I have an inkling of an idea that we could buy something for 300-350k to live in, and invest 100k to 150k in a flat in the south east and rent it out. Anyone got any sage advice?

It feels like we're all trapped in London (with overcrowding, traffic, parking issues...) because it would be foolish to move out while property prices are going mad. I want the best of both worlds.

Sorry meant to add we are in the South east, 1 1/2 hour commute to London

Rising here too (Cheshire) but good area so they never really dropped that much. London does seem to be crazy though.

I am in SE London and prices are mad. I was planning to downsize so I can survive easier after separation with H, but now holding onto my house only tighter as it seems wiser to hold onto rising equity rather than repaying some mortgage early. Crazy.

It's crazy here in North London. Neighbours bought a small 2 bed basement flat with no garden just under 2 years ago for £325k. They put in a new bathroom and kitchen, nothing fancy, and put it in the market just before Christmas. It went on for £525k. They had 18 viewers on the Saturday and 4 sealed bids on the Monday, it must have gone for over the asking price.

NI here. I think we are the only part of the UK that is stagnant. You can get a semi detached 4 bed house for £130,000.

I'm from the Republic and apart from Dublin and maybe Cork City its in a total slump. In my home town some properties are on sale at half of 2007 prices.

That's sad, MrsMoon76 :/

Has London, NYC and Paris ever seen nasty house price crashes?

I wonder what N London is like...can't be as crazy as SE London? I guess people with deposits these days are choosing houses in SE instead over flats in N London.

Tube map was the extent of my knowledge of London geography, which meant SE London didn't exist to me. Until I visited a mate there. The rest is history.

Now it's like everyone knows about SE London!

hyperspacebug - what's sad about it?? Sounds fantastic to get a 4 bedder for £130k. People will be able to afford to buy a home.

So what if houses are half the 2007 value, they went up by double the 10 years before!

Wish everything would half in price here (and that comes from someone who bought a house last year in London). At least things would be more "normal" and people would be able to afford to buy instead of mortgaging themselves to the eyeballs and becoming debt slaves to the bank.

Correct me wrong of course, but I did strike me - if it's a nice 4 bedder for only 130K on the market in UK, then probably most of the locals can't afford it anyway.

I'm curious about parts of country where property-average salary ratio is not 10x or something insane like that and where a teacher can afford home in reasonable area. Given much-hyped short supply of housing stock. It's been a while since when my dad applied to mortgage less than 3x of his modest salary. I wonder if it's even possible these days.

Crazy here (southeast) . Houses selling before they even hit Rightmove , we saw one house and put forward an asking price offer - but they had 11 other offers OVER the asking price!!

Ours sold in two days for asking price.

hyperspacebug - yes there have been house price crashes in London in the past but it was due to interest rates going through the roof in the late 80 s, early 90 s. It was also due to the Conservative party discontinuing tax relief on mortgages so everybody leapt to buy before the deadline.

I just looked at prices of flats in Battersea and don't understand how anybody can afford £795,000 for an average 2 bed flat. It doesn't make sense, even if a couple were earning a good salary.