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Original poster

Housepricecrash.co.uk - what a bunch miserable buggers. Can I get some normal folks opinions please?

323 replies

DaddyCool · 11/05/2007 13:19

.... and not some 45 old wally still living with mother and bitter because he spent all his money on model trains instead of a down-payment back in 1998?

Not a good cross section on there at all.

Is it going to crash do you think? Please give me your opinions. As far as I can see it's a 50/50 split on the nation's opinion but I would like to see how similar people to myself (parents with small children) think.

OP posts:
mumblechum · 11/05/2007 13:28

I don't think they'll crash but 3 of my clients are estate agents and chatting to them (and seeing their commission payments on their payslips!) it's clear that sales are definitely slackening off since early Spring.

I'm not really bothered if houseprices go down; after all, it just means that when you sell, you pay less for the next place, so pay less stamp duty etc.

CarGirl · 11/05/2007 13:31

I'm a modest home owner, I really hope they go down. I think the government policy of providing shared ownership has been keeping them artificially going just fuelling the problem for owners and renters alike.

mumblechum · 11/05/2007 13:33

Does that answer your question, Doctor, or were you looking for more anecdotal stuff?

Twinkie1 · 11/05/2007 13:33

Its rubbish - my husband in the financial markets and he says as there is a housing shortage - and we have been looking for a house with no luck for a while believe me I believe him - demand will stop the market from crashing!!

MissGolightly · 11/05/2007 13:35

There was lots on the BBC website about this a while back, most experts said they expected a slowing down when interest rates went up but made the point that the reasons house prices are high is a housing shortage due to:

  1. The population getting older so people are living in their houses for longer
  2. People are marrying later and divorcing more frequently leading to more single-person households.

Neither of those reasons are going to go away.

CarGirl · 11/05/2007 13:35

but if no-one can afford the prices of the houses at the bottom of the market then the market collapses/drops to amount whereby people can afford to buy them again. If you only earn £20k then you can only borrow £100k, for example

Original poster
DaddyCool · 11/05/2007 13:36

i'm went abroad and banked my equity. I'm returning to the UK and I'm very wary as to what to do. I would like to see a small adjustment so I advantage and the people who just bought and are looking long term don't get royally screwed.

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FioFio · 11/05/2007 13:36

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NoodleStroodle · 11/05/2007 13:36

Yes - but maybe not crash but slope away.

Rise in interest rates - begin to send lots of people into trouble - and they are only going up for the forseeable future

Gobbledigook · 11/05/2007 13:36

Oh DC, you have discovered the delights of that forum have you! Is it still going?! I found it bloody hilarious!

My opinion, fwiw (probably not much at all!), no crash - just a slow down/stabilisation. There are no signs of a crash around here anyway, prices are still going up.

MissGolightly · 11/05/2007 13:37

Yes but crashes only occur in times of extreme economic stress, because in general if people can't get more for their house than they paid for it, they just don't sell, unless they are forced to by insolvency. As long as employment is high and interest rates remain within reason, people will just sit tight.

mrsmalumbas · 11/05/2007 13:41

Property crashes don't happen overnight. Might take years. Anyone remember the last big crash? We lost 20 grand on a one bedroom flat. We had to sell it due to a change of job and needing to move - nobody was doing buy to let then, and if we had rented it out the rent would not have covered the mortgage anyway. There is already a major slow down in the US with a record number of repossessions. We tend to be about 5 years behind the US in housing market terms. The current situation just has "bubble" written all over it.

Aloha · 11/05/2007 13:43

I think house prices are slipping a little at the moment to be honest - well, they are where I live. A friend has just bought and found that a lot of the houses she looked at a few months ago and dismissed as overpriced are still on the market but for less money. They are still bloody expensive though!
However, they softened before then rose again. And if you want to buy in an up and coming area (eg ramsgate) then buy now before the rail link arrives!

FioFio · 11/05/2007 13:44

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Twinkie1 · 11/05/2007 13:46

We offered on house in Jan at 565,000 and when we went to see estate agent the other day as have had problems with vendors and was getting rather impatient she said they could put in on the market for an extra 20k now!!

Debbiethemum · 11/05/2007 13:47

I wish they would crash, we have quite a bit of equity in a tiny 3-bed house, but we need something a bit bigger, dd's bed is built into a cupboard and she has about 60cm's x 150cm's floor space. OK for now, but she does need a bigger bedroom. ds is OK but we have to walk sideways round our bed.
But 4-bed houses round here START at 430k so we would need a mortgage of at least 280k, fat chance of getting the mortgate, let alone repaying it

OrmIrian · 11/05/2007 13:50

Bloody hope so. Then we might be able to move up. We're stuck in a house that is too small and we can't afford to move. I'm counting on the fact that the bigger properties will lose more value %wise than smaller cheaper ones. Not to mention that it must be a nightmare for 1st time buyers.

Why does it matter anyway? Unless you are intending to sell up and live in a tent, it's not real money anyway.

edam · 11/05/2007 13:52

4 beds round here start at 200k more than our three-bedder! So I'm hoping for a softening that just narrows the gap between three and four bed. Don't mind paying a bit more for an extra bedroom, but not 2/3 of the cost of my entire house.

Doubt the entire housing market will move in my direction, though, sadly.

Original poster
DaddyCool · 11/05/2007 13:52

Yes, but I've sold up so if they crash or even 'adjust' down a little it'll be like winning the lottery for me.

I don't want to wish for the worst for people who have only just bought in this market but an adjustment of even 15% would have a big positive impact on my finances.

OP posts:
mumblechum · 11/05/2007 13:54

It's a bit mad to think that lots of people are like us in that if we had to buy our house today, we couldn't afford it, iykwim, ie even if we borrowed 4 times our salaries (which would be a murderous mortgage), we'd need a deposit of £400k.

Debbiethemum · 11/05/2007 13:55

Exactly, I will never actully get to spend the money, until I am old & decrepit and it has to be sold to pay for the nursing home fees.

Original poster
DaddyCool · 11/05/2007 13:56

aahhh, it's nice to get some normal opinions. HPC.co.uk just bicker and bicker between themselves and call each other arseholes and the like.

some guy came on looking for advice. he had quite a bit of money and was talking about buying a house at about 700K. He wasn't braggy or smug.... but they told him to fekk off! LOL

OP posts:
Debbiethemum · 11/05/2007 13:56

10x salary mortgage anyone

Original poster
DaddyCool · 11/05/2007 13:58

oh and I know Gobble. You think it kicks off on this site? Check HPC out. They are evil.

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anniemac · 11/05/2007 14:00

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