Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Is the housing market dead at the moment?

61 replies

firefirefire · 15/02/2019 16:15

Hi all,

We have our main house and also a rental property on the market at the moment.

Neither are on for an inflated price, but are reasonable

We just aren't getting anyone even come to look round, let alone any offers!

We are relocating and have noticed that in the areas we are looking at, properties are constantly being reduced on Rightmove and just hanging around.

Is this due to Brexit/time of year etc?

OP posts:
SinkyMalinks · 16/02/2019 14:21

Northwest - we got 3 offers near asking price (£5000 off) within a week. House 2 down sold in 3 days.

And looking around - houses that aren’t ludicrously prices are going quickly (although higher value homes >£600k seem to be sitting longer.

Agents have also said that the market up here is as busy as ever. Have heard bad things about that there London though.

HexagonalBattenburg · 17/02/2019 07:56

Stuff's moving OK-ish around here but a lot of people are waiting until the situation with HS2 is clarified (we're right in the path of it) before deciding to go on the market so there's not much coming up for sale.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 17/02/2019 08:04

It seems to be very stagnant here in SE London but, as a pp said, that could just be because prices had become so ludicrous that a much needed natural correction is needed. I think people might be beginning to see the madness in spending £1 million on a three bed terraced house. And of course, Brexit.

MadisonAvenue · 17/02/2019 08:07

We’re in the Midlands and several houses on our estate have gone up for sale since Christmas and sold within a week.

TildaTurnip · 17/02/2019 08:07

SE-we are taking ours off as it has been on for a few months and hardly any movement anywhere in the market around us. Even if we sold there would be nothing to move into!

Didiusfalco · 17/02/2019 08:13

I feel like there’s nothing new coming on the market near me in the midlands. We were thinking of buying, and have a house in an easy to sell spot, but there’s nothing to buy so I’m dragging my heels, even though we do need to move.

FrostedSnowdrops · 17/02/2019 08:23

Property is still moving here (East Anglia). There are a few very overpriced ones not budging but I think personally I'd find it hard to buy, there isn't much choice in terms of what is coming up and it does all feel expensive. We moved in 2017 and it feels like there has been less choice ever since. We were panicking when our purchase nearly fell through about what we could buy.

House down the road from me is probably 1980s. Classic three bed semi and they extended sideways to give a big single story lounge and the original kitchen and lounge are a huge kitchen diner. It's still a three bed, not much garden which is overlooked and you can see straight through the whole house when you walk past, and they've priced that higher than a lovely period four bed semi which whilst not having such a big lounge, does have more reception rooms and is a lot more private. I'm not surprised houses like that aren't budging. There are quite a few new builds still. I am not a huge newbuild fan but I'd probably look at them more now given the limited offering on the market otherwise...

katycb · 17/02/2019 09:44

I have to say that even though things are going quickly here not a lot is coming on. We saw pretty much every house in our area that was in budget ...there was only about 5 ...

spinabifidamom · 17/02/2019 11:25

We are also in the southeast. I placed a advert selling the property online two months ago. Nada.
Seriously I think the property market is in a slump. We have had some interest however. The other day I was at the estate agent in town. The current options on the market are waay out of my personal price bracket. With the number of estate agents closing I’m happy my local one has not buckled under the pressure yet.

Villanellesproudmum · 17/02/2019 11:29

This gives you an idea www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/

YahBasic · 17/02/2019 11:33

We’re first time buyers with a large deposit. We won’t start looking until mid April at the earliest to try and get the most for our money.

TaleOfTheContinents · 17/02/2019 12:52

I also wonder if the current extension craze is driving unrealistic selling prices.

If, for example, you pay 100k for a double storey extension on a semi, you might want to price it higher to recuperate costs (and because you've added on a bedroom or utility room, etc). But in my area (South East), that extra 100k would allow you to buy a detached house rather than a semi so would anyone be willing to pay that inflated price for a semi? A friend of ours recently told us that after the work he's done on his semi in Essex area (all cosmetic, no extension, and they've added in an en suite) , the value of the house has increased by 250k since they bought it 5 years ago. 250k!!! Shock How is that possible after a lick of paint, some general improvements and 5 years of inflation?!

Berimbolo · 17/02/2019 13:35

Market definitely off where I am in the SE.
FTB here desperate to move but we've seen all that's suitable for us, lots of overpriced properties and a lot in need of upgrading (rewiring, kitchens, bathrooms that kind of thing) that are priced the same as houses in good condition so they obviously aren't selling.
As a buyer I'm sticking to my price range as no point looking in the next bracket as people still want asking and not considering offers we've found. Just do depressing as we have large deposit, solicitor and mortgage in place but there's nothing worth buying. Am having to wait but not through choice

leahtalbot96 · 17/02/2019 14:41

I live in the SE too, nothing is being snapped up. Like someone else said, it appears that the property market is in a severe slump, or a sorry state of affairs right now.
In my area, very few houses or flats are being sold.

BritaHill · 17/02/2019 19:36

I think both the Brexit and the current business cycle are to blame. tranio.com/articles/uk-election-results-what-does-this-mean-for-the-housing-market_5340/ It's ironic because house prices (and the anger about them) - were a significant factor in the reason so many people have voted leave!

Glitteryfrog · 17/02/2019 20:19

We've just had our house valued and all three estate agents were confident they could sell our (very much first time buyer house) within two weeks. Apparently they have people on the books - I suppose new year, new me, let's buy a house!
They said the problem is that lots of people in the next level up are hesitant about selling so there just aren't enough homes on the market... so we could sell to a first time buyer, but we might not find anywhere to buy.
Stuff which is reasonably priced is selling, over priced or a bit odd/quirky is hanging around. I'm east mids.

TildaTurnip · 17/02/2019 21:28

We are being approached by so many agents at the moment, all saying the same thing; that they’ve noticed our property has been on the market more than 2 months and that they could sell it within that time. They’ve all agreed on value and I guess just really keen to get some houses on their books.

I think one of the biggest problems is that there are so many new builds. We have 5 new developments near by.

sue51 · 17/02/2019 21:32

SE here. Anything over a certain price point is not selling. A few new builds are shifting but developers are putting lots of sweeteners in.

Lindy2 · 17/02/2019 21:43

I've got a rental property where my tenant will shortly be moving out.
It is being advertised for rent again at the moment. The rent the agent has it up for is around £200 more per month than it was a couple of years or so ago!
I'm not sure it will go for that.
I think prices around London have hit the point where they will start to come down.

WBWIFE · 26/02/2019 01:33

Bristol selling really fast. Ours sold the day after it went online and our buyers house sold within a a few days.

Riya011 · 26/02/2019 22:02

Glad I saw this thread! Absolutely no viewings on our house either, i am really worried. We are in SE London. Not desperate about selling atm, but would like to sell in the next 6 months.

LittlePickleHead · 27/02/2019 08:40

We are in SE London and have sold SSTC (exchange this week 🤞🤞🤞🤞) and were expecting a nightmare. We priced keenly though (went for ooio which was £25k less than the EA valuation we received).

We had 4 offers within a fortnight, and accepted an offer £25k over the asking. That buyer fell through for being timewasting idiots after a month, but we then sold again immediately to a buyer who had been waiting for it to come back on.

We were motivated sellers though and I made sure our property was the nicest in the price range rather than going for the highest valuation we received.

Definitely can see a lot of properties in the area are stagnating though, and reducing time and time again.

The ones that are selling are the picture perfect ones at a realistic price. They seek to go v quickly.

So advice is, make it beautiful and be really realistic (as I kept saying to DH it's a means to an end, you have to get the idea of what it's 'worth' out of your head as you'll just be disappointed)

greendale17 · 27/02/2019 08:44

It's just the overpriced stuff that is hanging around with no interest from potential buyers.

^Completely agree with this.

Alexalee · 27/02/2019 09:19

If only everyone thought like you littlepicklehead

icannotremember · 27/02/2019 09:24

Not where I live, things are selling in days and prices have gone daft. Which is annoying as I can't keep up with the increased prices. But I thibk our area might be an outlier.