To everyone who said the housing market would crash by June.

[BridgettJ]

LOL.

Its gone through the ROOF!

I just don't see the point of these threads. There's one group of 'optimistic' people who belive that house prices can't ever fall much for long (Japan in the 1990s anyone?), another predicts an imminent correction. The truth is complex and the timing of price swings unpredictable. Just spare us the wisdom of anecdotal evidence based on a sample of one or two people in support of the thesis that the housing market is booming. This country has not seen a recession this large for a while. It takes a while to sack people. It takes a while to burn through one's savings and default on a mortgage. Especially given the mortgage holidays, furlough etc. People can try to be players and set inflated asking prices, but this means nothing until completion so curb your enthusiasm. Come back and rejoice at the unnatural price increases next spring when we've got land registry data for 2020.

I've found the prices round here have gone up, ridiculously so for 4 bed (not an exciting/wealthy part of the north east of England). Saw a house listed yesterday, they painted and recarpeted 5 rooms and are selling it for 20% more than they bought it for last year! Saw the previous photos and the house was fine, not underpriced but now it's all grey

One of these threads doing the rounds again!! Lol!

I don't recall anyone on the forum saying the market would crash by June, but please do prove me wrong. June sounds too specific and early to tell. I recall someone suggesting people wait 12-18 months though.

I dunno. Just gonna roll with the punches and see what happens because I'm tired for the guesswork!

*tired of the guesswork

Booming down here in SE. Lots of bigger, family, million pounders suddenly on market and selling fast.
I always laugh at people obsessed with house market crashes, like they’re mystic meg. Of course they’ll crash at some point. If you keep saying it every day, one day you’ll be right.
It’s usually people who will never actually buy a house.
Everyone gets the jitters that it’s the top of the market before buying. Most win, some lose.
I think it’s inevitable they’ll drop sometime within the next year due to Covid job losses etc.
If I were a first time buyer I’d give myself a six month deadline to watch and wait atm.

In terms of the reductions, that seems to be the thing now. Down here on coast in SE estate agents put on really high then reduce just 2,3,4 weeks later.

I'm up for sale but only a few viewings all not interested

Same here greenphonegirl.

I'm with @Moomin12345 it's unlikely to be a boom time. Prices had stagnated pre Covid in my area of London.

@Goinghometocallie your posts are confusing it's booming, things are selling fast but fast reductions?

I see also that good old Nationwide only let people have mortgages if they have saved 75% of deposit so parents won’t be able to gift deposits, well only 25% of it

@WhentheDealGoesDown I've heard about this, I don't understand the logic to it, so long as buyers can demonstrate it's been gifted and they won't be paying it back, I don't see what the issue would be or what business it is of nationwide's? We are using help to buy, that means 20% of our deposit comes from the government and we have to pay it back, yet nationwide gave us a mortgage for that. They do the same for builder's incentives, they limit how many freebies you can get from a developer, what has that got to do with how capable you are of paying back a loan?!

Yes, I don't understand it either, DS had a small inheritance from his DGM which would form part of his house deposit, he's not buying quite yet anyway but that would be the classed as the same, hope it doesn't become the norm from lenders. He would still be earning the same though to pay back a mortgage so I can't see it would make any difference.

DDs lender suddenly got very interested in where her deposit came from last week. Right on the cusp of offering the mortgage! We gave her £1/4m 2 years ago for the deposit. So they wanted to know how she acquired the money. When we drilled down through our bank executive it turned out they didn’t want her paying her mortgage and paying us interest on the deposit. Or worse, paying it back!!

They knew 2 years ago it was a gift but we had taken out an interest only mortgage against our investments for two years and had to wait for DD to have 3 years of accounts before she could get her own mortgage.

I do understand why they might be concerned about anyone having high repayments to two lenders but I cannot see why anyone would restrict family money! Makes no sense unless it has to be repaid!

So basically those people were right because the government took steps to make sure it didn't happen by the stamp duty holiday.

anonm Sorry I didn’t make myself clear.

The reduction thing has been going on for about 3 years. In the past there was a bit of a stigma on reduced houses but that doesn’t seem to exist anymore round here. It’s put them on at the very highest price to see if there’s an early bite but if not drop to a more normal price.

When I say booming I mean selling very well. Things that weren’t selling now selling and houses going within a cpl of weeks. Basically, faster than pre Covid.

I thought the family money thing was because they don't want people indebted to a loan as well as a mortgage. And if it is a loan do the family have a stake on the mortgage?. If it's declared a gift it potentially falls under IHT.

ok @Goinghometocallie

We moved house at the beginning of March. Our old house wasn’t sold. The house we bought had been on the market since May 2019, we viewed in July but couldn’t proceed at that price. In September the vendors reduced the price by £20k and we out in an offer.

Our house was offered on in June. We’d had little interest from Christmas to then. Next door to where we live now was out up fir sake on the Friday and sold by the Monday. Tonight the Sainsbury’s delivery driver was telling me he’d been to view a house in the next street. He said he’d put offers in in 3 houses in the area since viewings were allowed again. His last offer was £30k over the asking price. He lost out all three times. He says houses are selling really quickly.

I don't understand the logic to it, so long as buyers can demonstrate it's been gifted and they won't be paying it back, I don't see what the issue would be or what business it is of nationwide's?

Perhaps because saving the deposit themselves shows the buyers have the self discipline to save, and will be reliable repayers?

where's OP, all guesswork from both sides.
just get on with your dreams :)

@Ellmau if that were true why allow help to buy mortgages like mine which shows I have limited ability to save as I only have a 5% deposit, and I have to pay it all back? That seems much riskier to me than someone with an entirely gifted deposit. I dont think that's it, being able to save and having the means to pay off a mortgage are two very different things.

If it's declared a gift it potentially falls under IHT.

This I could potentially understand, if the giver was to die within 6 years (is it 6 years?) IHT could be due?

being able to save and having the means to pay off a mortgage are two very different things

Not really - if you've demonstrated that you can save money every month, it shows you're responsible/put money aside and means you'll probably have savings in case you lose your job, hence less likely to default on a mortgage. If you can meet the repayment but can't save anything on top, you being able to repay your mortgage depends on you being employed 100% of the time and on a salary at least as good as now. In a recession that's less likely.

@BeijingBikini I disagree and I don't think it sounds a very viable reason to me, otherwise why carry on with help to buy mortgages.

@BeijingBikini

being able to save and having the means to pay off a mortgage are two very different things

Not really - if you've demonstrated that you can save money every month, it shows you're responsible/put money aside and means you'll probably have savings in case you lose your job, hence less likely to default on a mortgage. If you can meet the repayment but can't save anything on top, you being able to repay your mortgage depends on you being employed 100% of the time and on a salary at least as good as now. In a recession that's less likely.

Rent is usually higher than mortgage payments would be for the same property. I could far more easily save whilst paying a mortgage than I can when paying rent.