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Original poster

Are prices shooting up where you are?

618 replies

Focusanddetermination · 13/07/2020 21:47

Just that really. I'm in a small Midlands town, have a high amount of activity and prices shooting up in the past few weeks even.

I thought people would be more hesitant with a looming recession, but it's almost the opposite.

OP posts:
teabaseddiet · 24/07/2020 22:56

@Viviennemary

Yes. Somebody told DH there will be a mass exodus from big cities. That makes sense but I'll believe it when I see it. But if nothing is open what's the point of living centrally especially if you work from home.
I live in a northern city & know people selling up and moving to more rural areas
Chelsea567 · 24/07/2020 22:56

Currently in south west we have been advised we can't even look at anything until we are sstc because there's so much interest in everything. This is really different to last year when you could just go window shopping without even being on the market,

Chelsea567 · 24/07/2020 22:59

Also if you're buying and selling it makes no difference whether prices are up if down - I'll sell my house 20% less as long as I can buy 20% less as well

Lightscribe · 24/07/2020 23:10

@Chelsea567

Also if you're buying and selling it makes no difference whether prices are up if down - I'll sell my house 20% less as long as I can buy 20% less as well
Doesn't quite work like that. Theres a little issue called 'price variation' across the country in mansions, big houses, medium houses, small houses and flats.
Lightscribe · 24/07/2020 23:13

@Chelsea567

Currently in south west we have been advised we can't even look at anything until we are sstc because there's so much interest in everything. This is really different to last year when you could just go window shopping without even being on the market,
Advised by.... ah yes an estate agent.
Smallgoon · 24/07/2020 23:14

Also if you're buying and selling it makes no difference whether prices are up if down - I'll sell my house 20% less as long as I can buy 20% less as well

I'd agree, if you were buying in the same city. But would be interesting to see if those selling large houses in London to move to somewhere more rural, would expect to pay the same amount as their London home... I'm guessing those now looking to move away, want to achieve enough to cover cost of their new property, and then some.

Smallgoon · 24/07/2020 23:15

[quote ChocoTrio]@Smallgoon

This thread has been hilarious at times lol![/quote]
Blush Grin

Smallgoon · 24/07/2020 23:20

Advised by.... ah yes an estate agent.

A fair few on there have said they can't even view without providing evidence of MiP/current property on market

I just put this down to agents/vendors really wanting to limit potential time wasters because of the social distancing, rather than homes flying off shelves...

marysuzairn · 25/07/2020 03:18

@Lightscribe well ignoring it is one way to deal with being schooled and out of your depth 🤦‍♀️

Property is still shifting very quickly in London and going to sealed bids. The r number is very low, before we know it a vax will be out and the worst of this over. Can't see them falling, if anything rising with all the money being printed and people looking for a safe as bricks investment

Lightscribe · 25/07/2020 07:08

[quote marysuzairn]@Lightscribe well ignoring it is one way to deal with being schooled and out of your depth 🤦‍♀️

Property is still shifting very quickly in London and going to sealed bids. The r number is very low, before we know it a vax will be out and the worst of this over. Can't see them falling, if anything rising with all the money being printed and people looking for a safe as bricks investment[/quote]
I’m not sure if you’re an estate agent or just young. You provide no reasoning or statistical knowledge behind your statements, just that you have ‘literally made millions’.

It’s ok, I prefer to remain ‘un-schooled’ if it’s ok with you. You are a millionaire after all, and will obviously quadruple that investing in London house prices through the biggest recession in 300 years and job losses and people leaving overpriced city apartments to work from homes with gardens further out.

But anyways I’ll stick to my investment ISA in gold, silver, miners, green energy and reflation infrastructure stocks thanks.

Smallgoon · 25/07/2020 09:33

Do people seriously believe the whole working from home will become the norm? I personally can't see it happening. The govt won't allow it to happen, since they'll want the sandwich/coffee shops in the city to remain open, and they need spending to continue. I can't see businesses wanting WFH to be the norm; for some industries, it may work, but certainly not all.

Pretty much everyone I know is itching to get back to the office. Granted most of the people I know do not have children, but even those that do, are dying to escape their wives/partners (lol) and office time with colleagues is a good respite.

As pp mentioned, for some of us, London will always be home and the arguments of "I need a garden" or "I can now work from home so can live anywhere" isn't enough of a reason to leave.

blurghye · 25/07/2020 09:55

I think for many companies wfh will be become the norm for at least part or majority of the wk.

Obviously it's job dependent but the people I know who work at desks & on computers for big banks, big 4, law firms, tech companies etc are not looking at returning to 5 days a wk in the office v

StatisticallyChallenged · 25/07/2020 10:54

I think pretty much everyone I've spoken to who used to be 5 days in the office is expecting not to return full time to the office. It's certainly the general steer my employer is giving, and they've also just approved a 3 days at home request from me (I'm moving out of town a bit so couldn't really wait for the company wide guidance). That request would never have been approved before covid.

blurghye · 25/07/2020 11:09

we are waiting for the new yr, what will the economy look like, will the company renew the lease & then decide whether to move out of London or not.

blurghye · 25/07/2020 11:10

However we won't go to far as DH & I both born & raised here so family is here. Just want more space, less congestion & pollution.

yellowymellowy · 25/07/2020 21:01

I agree with @Smallgoon that the government would want to enforce office working for those reasons but I don't think they will interfere with the decisions of employers. Overall, I think WFH will become much more commonplace post Covid and I definitely think it will make some people consider living further out of London and even other cities to a lesser extent.

BlueLagoona · 25/07/2020 21:14

Do people seriously believe the whole working from home will become the norm? I personally can't see it happening. The govt won't allow it to happen

The Government will have no say.

I work for a company with 50k UK employees. We’ve already had company wide guidance that the vast majority of office based employees will not be returning to the office full time. That’s everyone from inbound call centre staff to the Senior execs.

We’ve had no further specific guidance but it’s been suggested it will likely be a 50/50 split of office and WFH. I’ve got many friends who work for similar large companies who have been told the same.

WFH is here to stay for millions of people and to think that won’t affect the housing market is naive imo.

ChocoTrio · 25/07/2020 21:39

@Smallgoon "Do people seriously believe the whole working from home will become the norm? I personally can't see it happening. The govt won't allow it to happen, since they'll want the sandwich/coffee shops in the city to remain open, and they need spending to continue. I can't see businesses wanting WFH to be the norm; for some industries, it may work, but certainly not all."

I think the WFH thing will be interesting to see pan out. Companies have a duty of care to their employees, so it'll be a tricky balance.

I totally agree that the government want to encourage more spending in cafes and food shops etc.

Had to go into the city the other day and it made me realise how much I missed cafe culture! The last time I had been in a cafe was way back in March!! It's crazy how much time has passed and how different everything is now! Imo cafes are a great place to get work done or read a book etc. I really feel for the independent cafes tbh.

serenada · 26/07/2020 18:46

But local cafes etc will balance it out. After a while people will start to go out at lunch time for a break and walk, catch up with others over lunch, etc - It could be the new thing. No one wants to spend all day indoors.

Barrychuckle2 · 26/07/2020 19:08

[quote marysuzairn]@Lightscribe well ignoring it is one way to deal with being schooled and out of your depth 🤦‍♀️

Property is still shifting very quickly in London and going to sealed bids. The r number is very low, before we know it a vax will be out and the worst of this over. Can't see them falling, if anything rising with all the money being printed and people looking for a safe as bricks investment[/quote]
I hope you're right, but I know a lot of NW London estate agents & they tell me they're discounting property more than in a very long time even with the stamp duty drop. Offer 10% below asking on any house on the market for more than a month and your offer has a high chance of being accepted. Of course professionally they are embellishing the message they tell me as friends.
The R number isn't very low, during lockdown the new cases were halving every 8 days, at best they are plateauing which would indicate an R of around 1.
I really want your optimism to be right but it's not what I'm seeing, I'd love to see London prices rise myself for financial reasons, but from what I see and hear they are being temporarily masked by the 'I want a different set of walls brigade'
Understandably no one likes the idea of no/very small outdoor spaces after experiencing lockdown, which is the majority of London homes. The overseas buyers are significantly down too which is crucifying the top end of the market.

ChocoTrio · 26/07/2020 19:59

@serenada But local cafes etc will balance it out. After a while people will start to go out at lunch time for a break and walk, catch up with others over lunch, etc - It could be the new thing. No one wants to spend all day indoors.

Agreed. Lots of people tight on space at home have been known to go work in cafes.

WFH may just become WIC 'Working In Cafes' lol!

Like you said - it's nice to just be able to get out the house. It's healthier for work life balance for some people.

LegoAllTheTime · 26/07/2020 20:34

Absolutely nothing is selling in my bit of SE London. I'm terrified we won't be able to shift our flat. It gives me panic attacks.

Kurtain · 26/07/2020 20:38

In my area of SW London there was a real flurry last month but seems to have slowed right down plus more property on the market. I think the stamp duty intervention sort of proves how dire the situation is if that makes sense. There are so many uncertainties eg increased remote working, covid risk & lots of redundancies that I think most want to sit wait & see

notheragain4 · 26/07/2020 20:44

Do people seriously believe the whole working from home will become the norm? I personally can't see it happening. The govt won't allow it to happen

The government is one of the most supportive employers for WFH! It was the civil service live event last week and it was brought up countless times how we as a society are moving to more WFH and how great that is for the civil service to broaden job availability outside of London. So if the government are so anti WFH they've got a funny way of showing it.

yellowymellowy · 26/07/2020 21:28

@notheragain4

Do people seriously believe the whole working from home will become the norm? I personally can't see it happening. The govt won't allow it to happen

The government is one of the most supportive employers for WFH! It was the civil service live event last week and it was brought up countless times how we as a society are moving to more WFH and how great that is for the civil service to broaden job availability outside of London. So if the government are so anti WFH they've got a funny way of showing it.

That's interesting. I would have thought the government would be keen for everyone to get back to offices in city centres and use the shops, cafes, etc at lunchtime and the bars after work.

@LegoAllTheTime- sorry to hear about your flat. Does it have outdoor space? I'm wondering if there is a big difference in speed of selling between house with gardens and flats without.

The stamp duty intervention is definitely an attempt to prop up the market during this difficult period for the economy. They want it to continue over the Brexit transition too. We'll see what happens to the economy and then house prices once more redundancies are made, more people struggling, Brexit has happened, etc. I don't think it is going to be positive news at all.