For those saying Brexit will not have an impact...

[freshstart22]

On housing prices you are mad!

You might not notice anything now but I think a storm is coming. If anyone is even thinking about selling I would get moving asap.

We looked in Leyton and Walthamstow. The Abraham maisonettes were going for silly money - £60-£70k over asking. We looked at the Warners near Lloyd Park - I think they're going for more than £400k - they were at the beginning of the year anyway.

The ones near Lloyd park were £16,500 for a one bed and £18,500 for a two bed when I bought my house - they were so small I couldn't imagine living in them, though they are quite lovely in a bijou way. I loved having my own house and being able to live alone and pay my mortgage. I feel sad that unless they were to change careers and move back north my sons cannot hope to have that pleasure.

"We've just sold a bulk load of flats to Hong Kong investors that weren't even marketed to UK buyers"

Imperial - will these flats bought by Hong Kong investors be lived in or will they just sit empty like so many flats and houses bought by overseas buyers?

kirinm

If you don't mind moving towards Maryland you can get a 2 bed terrace for £415k

Or Leyton 2 bed terrace £450k

Or how about this big Leyton modern flat - v big sq footage and top floor which is nice on a £435

And actually, my personal top pick: Leytonstone 3 bed newly renovated period on at £525 Nice layout. Good square footage. New kitchen. Upstairs bathroom + 2nd one downstairs. This is an absolute winner.

Too near the the A12 road noise for my personal liking or I would be pulling out of the place I'm currently buying! I assume the A12 doesn't bother everyone since thousands of people live near it, but I don't like the constant drone when sitting in the garden.

Thanks Yellow but we completed on our sale two weeks ago. We stayed South of the river in the end.

That last one is nice!

Are you buying in Leyton?

Yup but just in general - there are defo some more keenly priced properties on than there were 6 months ago.

Dapple

They're on a buy back option amd assignable so in one way or another they'll be sold on amd the investors will have made for £££ for literally doing nothing other than paying a deposit which they'll get back anyway.

It makes my blood boil. Won't even be any racbemefits for the government other than a small amount of vat on legal fees.

It's a bloody mess amd we all just want somewhere nice to live

Our purchase fell through during brexit and when I am looking at the market again I see many reduced houses but very few good ones. I think OP's point is that there are many signals of market slowing down that we can't just ignore

The market is clearly slowing down and falling in London. Those who say London has nothing to do with the rest of the country are wrong. Name one time in history that when London house prices fall the rest of the country doesn't follow. There are huge amounts of flats not selling in Battersea and East London.

I think those who would welcom a housing crash are naïve in the extreme. A housing market collapse will not mean that property will become more affordable; it will mean the opposite in fact.

If there is a housing market collapse:

• Many home owners will find themselves in negative equity. They will owe more than their house is worth.

• Anyone in negative equity will not be allowed to sell. These people will be seriously stuck.

• Those owners who can put their house on the market will have difficulty finding a buyer.

• Banks will effectively stop lending due to house price uncertainty (and also job uncertainty.)

• More people will be unable to buy.

• Developers will simply sit tight and stop developing as they have done in previous crashes.

• This will cause serious problems for property supply in the long term.

• A lack of property to rent will cause major difficulties for renters.

• Homelessness will increase dramatically as a result.

The only people to gain from a housing crash are cash buyers with large stashes of cash to buy property outright, e.g. criminals, dodgy business men.

CorkieD a fall in overvalued house prices isn't a bad thing in genral. We have seen the damage big rises has done like generations of priced out people.

Lots of us have saved big deposits over the years and have well paid jobs. We are not criminals, we are hard working people. When people buy a house they know the value can go up or down. When they buy at the peak of the bubble the risk is greater of falls back to normal. Yes there are those who have been reckless and overpaid stretching them selves to the limit but it is the risk they take. They are adults.

The falling house prices are good for the economy as people will have more money to spend on goods and services rather than rents and mortgages.

The only people to gain from a housing crash are cash buyers with large stashes of cash to buy property outright
And first time buyers/people who have already sold and are renting, with large cash deposits - I know that I benefitted in the 1990s in this way, despite the general economic circumstances. There would be plenty of people who benefit from a property crash, just as there are plenty who would suffer.

(I'm planning on living in my home for the next 30 years, so I have no axe to grind, although I hope my children can afford somewhere decent.)

How big a deposit would you need if there was some kind of crash? 30/40%?

Oh right based on your OP I'll sell my house! Thanks for your vital information very useful.

Prices increased in July and August but mortgage approvals decreased. If prices keep increasing until brexit actually happens, any crash is only likely to take them down to current prices or maybe slightly lower.

Right or wrong, the government will do all they can to prop up the housing market.

I don't think any of the 'signs' highlighted in the OP are unexpected. Construction is always one of the first industries to take a hit in uncertain times / recessions. Share prices dropped by 40% the day after Brexit. It's hardly a surprise commercial property isn't selling when no company knows what they can do in this country anymore. I don't know how great a comparison commercial sales to residential is though.

Alazuli - presumably depends on mortgage lending. I think it's only fairly recent that 95% mortgages were back on offer after the last recession so those sorts of deals might come off the table again.

It's all so uncertain at the moment.

gingerbread good luck!

its happening already here.prices have been static since the vote.nothing is selling - now places are being reduced and still not moving.

Same here - I check RightMove daily for my corner of London and there are far more reductions than there were pre-Brexit. A flat identical to mine, in my building, has been reduced 5%, whereas another sold pre-Brexit was sold at an open house in one afternoon (presumably above asking).

I also saw that BBC report suggesting that foreign investors are piling in again to take advantage of good (to them) exchange rates.

kirinm - even if there is a dip/crash London prices have always gone back up and surpassed previous levels historically so you can take comfort from that at least.

I don't think prices should rise any further. It's absolutely ridiculous in London but I don't wish a crash on anyone. We bought somewhere because we were sick of renting and a family member helped us out. Despite a good combined income, we had no chance without someone helping us with a deposit. Even with a near 20% deposit, we struggled to buy something we didn't hate!.

We aren't investors so aren't looking to make £££. It's our home and the only one we could afford. But a crash helps no one. I cannot see how a crash in prices would lead to mortgage companies relaxing lending criteria but more importantly, fewer people will sell unless they absolutely have to.

this is interesting: www.independent.co.uk/money/how-speculation-shaped-the-housing-market-a7229551.html

also brings up how investors are now competing with ftbs :(

You'll see from any thread that mentions BTL that they see it as their right to invest for their futures and pension seemingly not appreciating that they are a contributing factor for the younger generations current inability to get out of rented accommodation. It's very much an 'I'm alright jack' thought process. The other argument that comes out is that not everyone wants to buy. Certainly not the case in my friendship group. More an acknowledgment that they'll never be able to buy whilst paying off the mortgage of a BTL landlord leaving very little money to save for a deposit especially when paying £300-400 a month in student loans etc.

We were always up against investors and it was not possible to match their offers. Every vendor inevitably went for the higher offer.

We only got the place we've got now because it's a one bed and in such a mess no one could be arsed with doing the work that needs to be done, I'm sure!

It will be cheap pickings for the wealthy or cash buyers. If my house went into negative equity and I had to move, I would not be giving it away at a bargain price. I'd rent it out and eke a more beneficial income from it in the hope it would wipe it's face again in the future.

It is interesting that so many would be happy to see people potentially trapped in negative equity.