What do you think will happen property prices.

[Laineymc7]

We recently sold our two bed flat. It wasn’t big enough for the 4 of us. We are now sending a house so everyone has their own rooms which is great. We have the deposit for a new place

Sorry posted too soon.
In savings but as getting married and I am having a career break with the kids. Selling the flat has allowed us to do this.
I’m now wondering should we buy ASAP I’m worried if we don’t property price in London will go up and we’ll muss our. Or should I just chill rent for a year enjoy the wedding and 1 year career break and buy after that?

I thought prices were going to go down

If anyone knew the answer to that question they'd be very rich!!

It will depend on exactly where in London, and what type of property. Different areas and different property types will respond differently.

However, most indicators suggest it is unlikely that prices will be rising much in the near future.

They will rise in up and coming cities like Manchester/ Birmingham as people move out of London but still need to live in a big city for work. Up 4.6% in Manchester this year.

I think it's likely the house prices will stagnate in London- with the exception of very expensive areas and 1/2 bed flats which will fall slightly.
Large cities (Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham) will rise. The north in general is still recovering from the last depression so prices are unlikely to drop there as people will be sitting where they are to avoid negative equity.
I can't see a huge general drop - unless there is a huge exodus from the UK by professionals, where the entire market will slump.

But in your position I'd be looking to buy, saving as much as possible, keeping a close eye on any areas that appeal to swoop in if your perfect house appears at a good price but not rushing.

We are looking S/SE London or Surrey borders. A 3/4 bed house. We are locked into a rental contract now which is frustrating. Fingers crossed they will fell a little. That would help us. X

I think it's likely the house prices will stagnate in London- with the exception of very expensive areas and 1/2 bed flats which will fall slightly.

London prices are already falling more rapidly than this. Was reading about, I think, Wandsworth, where houses have lost about £100k in value recently.

3/4 bed houses in Surrey are being reduced in price. Have seen a £1.1m house go down to £950k, would have achieved £1.2m not long ago.

Still way out of my price range

Prices in most parts of London are stagnant/dropping. The are due for a large scale economic slow down in the next two years anyway which usually is accompanied by a drop in house prices. We’re in the same boat as you. We’ve decided to hold off buying unless we find something that we really love.

I've been watching the market closely over the past few years and my home has reached what I believe to be it's 'ceiling price' so its now on the market as I want to move out of London to somewhere more rural/bigger and still live comfortably - albeit a longer commute. But I am willing to sacrifice lay in's :)

I think the market will continue to increase slowly, stay level but I think the beginning of brexit will threat interest rates causing panic which will in turn cause the market to panic - which will then encourage the interest rate to remain low...so I would consider buying now to lock in a low interest rate on your new mortgage product.

I think rural areas will and with Crossrail and neighbouring cities becoming popular as more people are choosing to move out - will push those prices up over time. (10 years).

God I sound old.

I think some confusion on here. What is dropping is the inital sale price of houses, so folks are dropping their initial pric, that is not the same as th value of the house dropping, value is still increasing, it's just not as fast as it was. The value of rhe houses are still increasing month on month.

I'd buy, how much will a years rent cost you? Then you couple in an odds on value increase and you will lose out.

There is always a reason to wait. There is always the same responses on these threads from people who say they will drop. I'd be curious to know if they were renters or home owners and where they live.

House price drops are always temporary on the rare occasion they fall, long term they always increase.

I'm a home owner in the south east. A short term drop is irrelevant to me as I intend to stay put for another decade at least. My view is buy now.

Thank you for all your advice. I am hoping they will stagnant as long as they don’t go up too much. As it stands we still don’t know the impact Brexit will have on house prices. I’d love to move out of London to somewhere bigger and quieter However with dp being a London boy he’s very reluctant to.

3/4 bed houses in Surrey are being reduced in price. Have seen a £1.1m house go down to £950k, would have achieved £1.2m not long ago.
@SecondaryConfusion Surrey is a fairly big place, where are you seeing houses that have fallen 20% recently?

@Mildura I’ve seen the same trends in Surrey (just inside/outside M25 corridor). Large 4/5 bed family homes. Seems the original optimistic asking prices are being dropped by 5% after sitting on the market a few months and then actual sale prices about 10% down on that (after 6+ months).

The 3 houses I’ve liked after 1st viewings have started to shift over past few weeks, by presumably the vendors have then managed to bargain down their own purchase prices (whereas in December/January, it felt like a stalemate situ)

@kittyKK I have seen similar reductions from very optimistic asking prices now coming down to more realistic levels, as Bluntness100 also mentions.

However, I have yet to see any evidence that properties that were once selling for £1.2m are now selling for £950k.

If you're looking at SE/S edges of London, then we're talking some of the very affordable areas in zones 5 and 6? If so, I wouldn't delay for a very long time. These areas are relatively affordable so there's still reasonable demand for family accommodation. I doubt prices will fall although I'd be surprised if they went up as London prices in general aren't doing that great.

I'd also factor that chains can take a few months to complete and that if you get a fixer upper, you might want to do the work while staying in your rental. For those reasons, you might not want to wait for too long if your current contract is for 1 year.

Looking sooner also means that you can be pickier and wait for he right house to come up. If you leave it till late, you're more likely to have to compromise or have the stress of extending your rental contract by a few months + risking interest rates going up.

It amuses me when people say house prices won't fall. We have the perfect storm coming up in the next year or so. Over priced housing, stagnating wages, Brexit, increasing interest rates, shops closing left, right and centre (including estate agents near me). It's a tell tale sign. Look at what happened in the late 80's when property in London generally dropped by 30% and interest rates rose to 15%! My brother bought a flat for 67K which dropped to mid 40's and he was paying £1200 per month in mortgage payments for a while! Worst affected were new build flats and leasehold properties.
I think people have been so used to rising house prices or have never lived through a crash so don't believe it could happen.
The only property I would buy now is a long term home where you are certain that's where you want to be for the next 10 years plus.

Yes, I am in Surrey and house prices have dropped massively round here. We are M25 border.

Our house 'sold' last year twice for £475,000. Both fell through due to chain collapsing, nothing to do with price.

Last June, after the second fell through the agent said the maximum it would now achieve is £435,000. He said accept £420,000!

Our move to another area just doesn't work on those figures, as where we are going prices have stayed the same. So we are a bit stuck now.

Again, this is still focusing on asking price. Not value. House prices in Surrey are increasing month on month.

The problem is agents and greedy sellers put their houses on too high, then drop. People often pick the agent who values their house the highest as well. These folks aren't in negative equity. Their houses in not declining in value. Simply they wanted more for it than it's worth.

The government issues a house price index, which shows monthly escalation or decline by location. Few areas are actually seeing houses sale prices declining. What people are referencing on this thread is the folks who ask too much in the first place.

Will they drop with brexit, they might, they might not, only one thing is a fact, it will be temporary.

Keep an eye on the London property market, I heard prices are being reduced and that will undoubtedly ripple out and effect property values.

I hope there won’t be a big fall in prices, we brought our first flat in the late eighties and saw the devastation caused by the massive fall in property prices, it caused a lot of misery for people, repossession was common at the time.

This is not what you asked but I would be having a small quiet wedding ASAP because you have given up your career to raise children of the man you are not married to (legal protection) and if I had children I would rather spend money on their home than a wedding.

Thanks for all your advice. Yes it is zone 5/6 that we are interested in. I’ve been watching the market and the bigger properties seem to be dropping in price. We’ve only just sort

Sorry *sold
The estate agents told us that they expect a 10% drop in property prices over the next year or two and that it’s currently more of an offer culture.
I’m only taking a career break due to having two kids in nursery to work I don’t come away with much. I’ll be back in a years time.
The deposit is mine and I’ve been the home owner for the last 12 years so don’t need to marry ASAP for financial security. I have my own.
I think we will watch the market and if something we really want comes up in the next 6 months/year go for it. It such a worry with a big property that the prices will fall and we would be stuck if we ever wanted to move in future.

Although I do think London house prices and Home Counties are fairly secure so we should be fine.