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Original poster

Should I move now or after Brexit?

107 replies

Nevermindhey · 21/08/2018 08:22

My plan was to move next summer and start looking in the spring. Now with all the doomed forecasts about the housing market post-brexit I don’t know what to do.

In my area the housing market seems buoyant. There are four sold signs in the surrounding streets and nothing sticking so I think I would sell quickly.

I am struggling with lack of space where I am so I don’t want to get stuck here if house prices plummet and the market takes several years to stabilise.

What do you think?!

OP posts:
serbska · 21/08/2018 11:19

I am struggling with lack of space where I am so I don’t want to get stuck here if house prices plummet and the market takes several years to stabilise

In my area the housing market seems buoyant.

Sell now. Buy something you can live in for the next 5-10 years.

User878929333 · 21/08/2018 11:22

And change/restrictions to borrowing came in in the UK after 2008. That was a decade ago. Property prices have continued to grow, in some areas to absolutely rocket. Your point again doesn’t actually relate to the circumstances in question.

serbska · 21/08/2018 11:22

@AnalyticalChick has a point, it is not just BREXIT that is impacting London property prices. In all the worldwide Chinese money hot spots prices have cooled.

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 11:26

@NewBoot The new mortgage rules came into force on 26 April 2014. The property market started turning down in places soon after.

User878929333 · 21/08/2018 11:29

serbska the OP doesn’t say she’s in London.

Of course the UK is in sway to the global political winds to some extent. But it’s utterly ridiculous to deny the effects of Brexit, which I think Analytical is just doing for a wind up. No one can really be that dim.

The pound is tanking - yes directly because of Brexit - so of course foreign investors are going elsewhere...

User878929333 · 21/08/2018 11:29

Anyway I’m bored of the flat earth debate now. So I’m out.

Good luck OP.

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 11:31

@NewBoot Please do not call me "dim". It only reveals how you resort to abuse when you are not winning an argument.

wherewithal · 21/08/2018 11:33

The biggest determinant of property prices is the availability of debt. The Bank of England recently brought in new mortgage rules to stop people borrowing excessive amounts, plus it has been raising interest rates and stopping QE, just like in other countries. Prices are falling because of this, and trying to blame it on Brexit is silly

Couldn’t have said it better. That people don’t see this boggles the mind; perhaps they’re too busy listening to parrots.

Chocolala · 21/08/2018 11:41

The biggest determinant of property prices is the availability of debt. The Bank of England recently brought in new mortgage rules to stop people borrowing excessive amounts, plus it has been raising interest rates and stopping QE, just like in other countries. Prices are falling because of this, and trying to blame it on Brexit is silly

This.

Brexit, should it happen and in whatever form it turns up, is unlikely to help. But the housing market has been overheated for years. People now simply can’t get the starter mortgages for the ‘starter properties’ (and often don’t want them anyway as there’s no room to swing a cat), so the whole chain of transactions freezes up.

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 12:09

ShovingLeopard Property prices the world over are falling from Canada to Hong Kong. Whatever happens with Brexit is not going to affect the course of the global downturn, so it's futile to try to blame the world's economic problems on Brexit.

Um, yes, that is what I was saying. There are global problems. And then ON TOP OF THAT we now have Brexit having another negative effect. A double whammy.

The global problems are largely out of our control. The Brexit problem was in our control, but we have voluntarily decided to make things much harder for ourselves. It is, frankly, idiotic in the extreme to add in another major problem when we are already facing difficulties.

You do realise that when you are in a hole, it is not a good idea to carry on digging, don't you?

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 12:11

Why must people be so simplistic in their thinking? It is not just one issue that is causing the problems. But denying that one of the largest is a problem, just because there are others contributing, is simply childish.

BubblesBuddy · 21/08/2018 12:20

I think Brexit is the immediate worry here and the Bank of England is trying to shore up the economy so the beating it takes over the next few years won’t be quite so bad. Even today we hear about all the drug availability problems Brexit might cause and the NHS are working on contingency plans. I would rather they worked on making sick people well again instead of diverting people into Brexit planning. Ditto every other industry and sector of our economy. What a waste of effort! We just didn’t need Brexit. It won’t be sorted in March. I doubt we’ll be sorted in 10 years!

However, op: sell. Be realistic regarding price, present your house well and make someone else happy by buying their house! If you keep thinking about Brexit, you will be weeping forever and paralysis will set in. Go for it!

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 12:42

You do realise that when you are in a hole, it is not a good idea to carry on digging, don't you?

Trying to 'piggyback' one political issue on to another issue is a well known political tactic.

The biggest determinant of house prices is the availability of debt, which is currently reducing. If anything, Brexit will lead to the Bank of England making more debt available and lowering interest rates, which could either be positive for house prices, or at the very least help counterbalance any falls.

Ta1kinpeace · 21/08/2018 12:50

Dear @Nevermind
Your thread has become rather derailed from your original question!!!!

If you are buying a HOME that you plan to live in for he next ten to fifteen years, buy when you see the right one and enjoy it.

Prices going up, down and sideways will not make the colour of your wallpaper change. Grin

If you are planning to sell the house within ten years, you are probably best sticking with renting
OR
buy a bargain doer upper that you'll not lose to much on in the medium term.

sunshinesupermum · 21/08/2018 12:50

Nevermindhey Where in the UK are you? I thought the bottom had dropped out of the market esp during the summer hols.

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 12:53

Trying to 'piggyback' one political issue on to another issue is a well known political tactic.

So is cherry-picking one issue, and pretending that complex problems have only that as their cause.

Real life problems are invariably complex. It is tempting to try to brush factors in their genesis under the carpet if they don't accord with your views, but that approach does not reflect reality, and will do nothing to help us understand problems, and therefore how to solve them. Rigid, narrowly-focussed thinking is never the answer.

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 12:55

@ShovingLeopard

I stand by my previous answer: If anything, Brexit will lead to the Bank of England making more debt available and lowering interest rates, which could either be positive for house prices, or at the very least help counterbalance any falls.

Original poster
Nevermindhey · 21/08/2018 12:58

Hmmm based on what people are saying, I am inclined to go for it now. I am not settled here.

Definitely houses selling. I just had a drive around my town and there are plenty of sold signs. It is traditionally overpriced here as it is a desirable area and I have a small house which I think would sell. I would get more for my money moving to the outskirts of the town which I am considering.

OP posts:
serbska · 21/08/2018 13:06

I would rather they worked on making sick people well again instead of diverting people into Brexit planning. Ditto every other industry and sector of our economy. What a waste of effort! We just didn’t need Brexit.

100% agree

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 13:19

I stand by my previous answer

Yes, I thought you would....

The scenario you mention may or may not play out. But the fact is that Brexit is already creating so much uncertainty, and fear of negative outcomes that damage has already been done.

In any case, the BoE doing yet more quantitative easing will not be a positive for the economy. What about the savers?

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 13:25

@ShovingLeopard

As you say, nobody knows how it will all play out, so the rest of it is just fear mongering. But the UK housing market started stalling well before the EU referendum date was announced, so the root of the issue is not Brexit.

User878929333 · 21/08/2018 13:46

As you say, nobody knows how it will all play out, so the rest of it is just fear mongering. But the UK housing market started stalling well before the EU referendum date was announced, so the root of the issue is not Brexit.

I wondered how long it’d take you to reference ‘project fear’ analytical. I think we can say your economic analysis is neither neutral nor balanced. You very obviously have an agenda. It’s simply infuriating to see very real, present time economic factors denied for ideological reasons.

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 13:52

But that's just the point, Analytical. Nobody knows. What you don't seem to realise is that uncertainty is the number one thing that the markets hate. That, alone, can cause all sorts of issues that will leave us all poorer for decades to come. To add this uncertainty into a scenario where there are already global problems, and further uncertainties, is just heaping problem upon problem. Why would you think that is a good idea? It's just really stupid.

AnalyticalChick · 21/08/2018 15:38

@ShovingLeopard I don't know about your life, but nothing in my life is certain. Uncertainty is a fact of life, whether markets like it or not. The only time we have certainty is when we are 6 feet under.

@NewBoot I was responding to the word 'fear', which was used first by @ShovingLeopard, so please do not make unwarranted accusations against me

ShovingLeopard · 21/08/2018 16:43

You are still missing the point Analytical. Take it from one who worked in the financial markets for a long time that uncertainty on the sort of Brexit scale is a big, negative deal. We did this voluntarily, on top of all the other uncertainties life, as you point out, throws up without us choosing them. That is why it was a stupid thing to do. We have caused ourselves considerable extra financial hardship that we didn't need to choose.