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Original poster

Would you buy before Brexit?

33 replies

Madam61 · 05/01/2019 17:59

As the question says, would you or wouldn’t you?

What are you reasons?

Do you think leaving the EU will cause prices to crash?

Looking forward to the responses 😃

OP posts:
MaggieMcSplash · 05/01/2019 18:12

Yes of course. We needed a bigger family home.
We've just bought.
Now is a time to get a good deal there have been a lot of reductions.
Also if you are planning on staying 5-10 years longer go for it.
Why waste money on rent.
If you are in it for the short term then maybe not as you probably won't make a quick buck at the moment.

Minniemountain · 05/01/2019 18:13

Honestly, I doubt anyone can say for certain.
The licensed conveyancers that I work at is not replaced staff who have left as the bosses have no idea which way it will go.

DustyMaiden · 05/01/2019 18:13

Brexit is cancelled

zoemelb · 05/01/2019 18:18

I'm in position of wanting to upsize but don't really need to yet (will really need to in a few years I think), would be better off for us not to wait until then. So we will put our house in the market regardless and see if we can get the minimum price that we are willing to sell, and hope to get the price reduction from the next house we want to buy. If it works out, then move, if we cannot then won't move.
Would be curious to hear from first time buyer point of view? in my opinion this year or next year or two because of the uncertainty, would be one of the best time for first time buyer trying to get into the ladder, best time to bargain hard!!!

Squirreltamer · 05/01/2019 18:31

Uncertainty has definitely put the brakes on prices.
In my city prices have gone up 5% to 7% but most places have either gone down or increased 1%. When you take incount inflation at around 3%, means on the whole in real terms majority of areas have decreased in price.

I could see prices dropping 15-20% if it’s a hard Brexit maybe more in some areas.

A fudged deal will probably see a small spike then back to inflation type rises

Staying in the EU probably much the same.

I think the government should be looking at stagnating house prices to just below inflation for a few years and then back to inflation after its normalised. It’s got a bit out of hand with average wage to average house price ratio.

If you’re selling to buy it makes no odds.the house you sold will have gone down a similar amount to your purchase.

If you've got a stack of cash and you’re a cash buyer. I’d wait, but if there is a crash you may find some of the nicer streets/areas/houses just won’t come on the market till things improve.

But my idea of nice houses are old character houses which only get sold when people downsize or die in them. And some nice new builds but the builders will just put the brakes on them till they can get max profit.

Christmascookiesmmmm · 05/01/2019 18:37

We just bought our first house because we really were unhappy in our rental and we thought if there was a house price crash then we’d probably find it a lot harder to get a mortgage as banks would tighten their criteria. I’m self employed as well with only 2 years accounts so I thought they wouldn’t want to lend to me at all if there was a crash. We stretched ourselves to our max but over 35 years as we’re still in our 20s, and we did 5 year fix so we know whatever happens with interest rates we can afford the mortgage on 1 persons salary at a push. We also bought a house which we’d be happy to stay in forever if needed. When we were first looking we were looking at flats /smaller houses and I’m so glad we increased our budget as we just dint have to worry now. Now we’re in I’m not even following house prices (I was obsessed with them when we were looking) and I’m just so grateful that we were in the position to buy a house, and we can now get on with living!!
Oh but we’re not in London. We’d never have been able to get on property ladder if we were in London, and I think I wouldn’t want to buy there right now.. but then I guess people who bought there pre 2008 crash who have then ridden out the crash will have made massive gains!

wowfudge · 05/01/2019 18:51

Christmascookies that sounds very sensible. We went for a 5 year fix in 2016 shortly before the referendum, 'just in case'. I'm glad we did. If you're not looking to move in the short to medium term, then house prices are largely irrelevant.

NotMyCircusMonkeys · 05/01/2019 18:54

I've just bought as a first time buyer but made sure that we bought a 3 bed that we could stay in long term if we needed to (not planning more than two children!) in case the market does crash.

motortroll · 05/01/2019 18:59

We've just reserved a new build on part ex. So yes!

motortroll · 05/01/2019 19:01

We're planning on being there til older kids leave home or we get very rich! Older 2 are 10 and 12 so a good few years yet!!

Alexalee · 05/01/2019 20:03

Not a chance... brexit isn't causing housing market collapses in Canada Australia and New Zealand.... it is the end of the credit cycle, prices will revert to their affordable levels over the next few years regardless of what happens with brexit. Major downside potential... virtually no upside potential for prices... unless the government do something stupid to inflate prices again like allow htb loans for existing housing stock

Hercy · 05/01/2019 20:52

I'm trying to, but can't agree a sale. Vendors are being hugely unrealistic on price (want about £80k more than the identical house next door sold for in summer 2017).

Previous house I liked, the vendor pulled out.

Sold mine and have a mortgage offer, so you'd think people would be snapping my hand off, but frustratingly not.

Fleabag123 · 05/01/2019 20:56

Hercy, I feel your pain! In same situation, vendor of place I’m trying to buy want more money than recent sold prices would reflect. I have no chain and mortgage in place but seems to make no difference to them!
It will work out in the end

shabbycaddy · 05/01/2019 22:21

With Alexalee, I work in housing industry, brexit has minimal influence. Issue is the south has reached maximum loan values to people’s income. Just have to look at the amount of family’s where both parents are having to work full time to manage mortgages which are huge but at all time low loan rates. Slowdown has started, and is happening in the states and Australia, if you buy now, make sure it’s for the long term and don’t expect to easily sell in 5 years for gains etc.

hollyhaphazard · 05/01/2019 22:27

Brexit has a huge potential to impact the housing market - it's utter bollocks to say otherwise. Bank of England has said there's potential for a 35% drop. A flight of net-contributor level jobs (that's already started) will cascade down. If we crash out it's absurd to think it wouldn't have a negative effect on housing.

Alexalee · 05/01/2019 22:37

35% wouldn't even get you anywhere near back to the 2007 prices which were deemed unaffordable in South East and London... house prices rose massively between 2013 and 2015 due to help to buy, no other fundamental reason for them to have risen, cheapest borrowing in history has helped the huge bubble stay inflated. If it goes pop it will go further than 35%

shabbycaddy · 05/01/2019 23:33

Holly, fact is there will be always forced sellers for one reason or enough. Brexit may delay some people decisions, but homes will be bought/sold as people can’t put lives on hold. Brexit might cause people to leave who otherwise might of over paid on a home and inflated the market even more, but is that really a bad thing? I would, and I would think others would prefer stable prices. The bigger picture is affordability and this is showing in other countries at the moment. Even if you are willing to take huge debt, banks are not willing to lend due to limits on people’s income, which in turn turns the tap off to increases in house prices.

Original poster
Madam61 · 06/01/2019 09:09

Some very interesting responses, with Brexit so close I feel like it would be sensible to wait until the end of March. Even by early/mid March things should be slightly clearer. I feel the market will be very slow up to this point

OP posts:
Alexalee · 06/01/2019 09:34

If you need to buy the you need to buy... the full ramifications of brexit won't be felt for 2 years or more anyway... But if you aren't buying long term ie 5 year plus you will struggle to sell for what you pay I think

Original poster
Madam61 · 06/01/2019 10:04

Alexalee, I am aligned with your thinking in a lot of ways. We are ftbs in London and I feel prices cannot go much higher Brexit or no Brexit, but there is a potential that they will crash with Brexit. Therefore as a ftb my gut feel is to wait until Brexit has been sorted. We are currently renting, but a few more months of renting is not exactly the end of the world imo

OP posts:
Inferiorbeing · 06/01/2019 12:11

We just bought. As first time buyers we went for 3 bed we can remain in for years! We have other friends waiting for the brexit crash, unfortuantly only time will tell what was right. But we knew if we wanted to get a mortgage on my bursary income we had to do it asap as a crash would lead to tighter lending criteria!

goodwinter · 06/01/2019 12:45

We did exactly the same as a previous poster. Bought our first house last month to be able to get on the property ladder. 35 years so the payments are more than reasonable, with a 5 year fix so we're somewhat protected. Hoping to overpay and reduce to 25 when the fix is over. Also went for a 2-bed so we can stay for at least 10 years.

CarolineTheChemist · 06/01/2019 13:33

Yes - we're looking to buy asap regardless of Brexit. We've been looking for about 18months, partly because what we want is quite specific (period farmhouse needing modernisation), but mostly cos it took ages to sell our last property (a 2 bed flat in SE London). We think that was Brexit related.

Mostly we're ignoring Brexit and the doom mongering about house prices. We're in our mid 30s and looking for a home that we can live in until old age. Hopefully by then Brexit will be aomething our kids learn about at school.

The main problem we've had isn't the people aren't selling as much now as they were this time last year. However, people are still divorcing and ageing/dying, so most of the houses we see now are on the market as a consequence of this.
Also hoping the bank doesn't change its mind about how much they're prepared to lend us...

CarolineTheChemist · 06/01/2019 13:38
  • is that people aren't selling...

I have friends and family who are not yet on the property ladder, who are waiting with baited breath for this crash to happen. I just don't think it will. I have sympathy, but i really believe it's just wishful thinking on their part.
There might be a little wobble immediately afterwards, but not to the extent that will make houses genuinely affordable to many people.

Alexalee · 06/01/2019 13:54

For every 1% interest rates rise, prices need to fall about 10% to keep affordability the same... that is affordability that is maxed out and interest rates as low as possible... only 1 outcome really