Is my dream home about to become more affordable?

[Makeitgoaway]

It's a recently refurbished bungalow, done in a modern open plan style but with decent sized bedrooms and a nice garden. Just off a bus route but close to a nature reserve. Exactly what I've been hankering after.

Naturally I can't afford it

It went on the market early Feb. I think it will be an inheritance done up to sell on but not sure if it's the family or the developer who's selling.

It must be a horrible situation for the seller to be in, but how far do you see prices falling?

I don’t think they’ll fall. Not where we live anyway as we’ve more or less controlled the spread. Feel bad for families losing elderly relatives and having to sell their homes. It’s such a horrible thing. And people are acting like vultures trying to benefit from it all.

They've spent a lot of money on it, I'm thinking they might need to move it on to repay loans, especially if it's owned by the developer?

It must depend how long loans are suspended for and what happens to the market after that?

I'm not going to have too much sympathy for someone for whom inheriting a property wasnt enough. They took a risk on making extra, it might work out for them, it might not.

What area is it in? Some places are forecast to fall much more than others.

I've heard talk of 30% which I really can't see happening, although I think 3% is rather optimistic.

South East in the "nice" part of a town famous for not being nice

If the value of the bungalow falls, then it is likely the value of your current property will fall too.

Got the money in the bank? That might not be safe either, we could see a period of rapid inflation..
There's no point trying to guess if you'll be able to afford it; the easiest way for you to reach that house is to work for it and not hope it falls into your hands. Just saying

How much deposit will you have? Some banks are already cancelling mortgage offers and requiring much higher %age for deposits.
Obviously people with a large % deposit might benefit slightly. But most people may well find their dream home is now 10k cheaper, but less affordable than ever because they need 150k deposit to be able to buy it

Prices might drop. More likely the whole market will stagnate and nothing will move.

We wouldn't need a mortgage. Yes savings will probably decrease in real terms but not in the short term v this possible purchase.

Our house would of course reduce in value too but if proportionately the same, it would less in actual pounds.

I do understand it's all pie in the sky, just dreaming of possibilities when this is all over.

"Prices might drop. More likely the whole market will stagnate and nothing will move"

When that happens though, the price for people who need to sell does fall.

When that happens though, the price for people who need to sell does fall

In which case the sellers will sell if they need to 🤷‍♀️

Yes I agree, people who really need to sell quickly will take a hit and if you are prospecting for a bargain and don't much care where then there will be bargains to be had. But they are most likely to be snapped up by landlords who are less fussy about specific features and locations.

Everyone else who can sit tight for a year or so, will do.

Even if there’s a price drop, it it’s a desirable property there will be other buyers interested. It may turn into a bidding war.

A local builder built 5 luxury homes near us. They are lovely inside but overpriced for the main road location. Been on the market nearly 3 years and they’ve sold 1/5. There is over £1.5m of equity sitting empty on those 4 houses. They can clearly afford to hold out as they haven’t dropped the price. Not everyone will be desperate to sell.

On the other hand, your sellers might be. But I wouldn’t assume prices will drop across the board or properties will even stay on the market. It all depends on individual vendors.

Hang on - you can’t afford it, yet you’re also a cash buyer as you say you wouldn’t need a mortgage on it?

Why don’t you take out a small mortgage and stop being such a vulture taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune.