ARGH!!! Housing market South West UK- renting, should be wait to buy?

[Twinkled]

So we moved across the country to a much more expensive area. We have a good cash dep and DH likes a house we have found - but I am thinking we should wait until next year as house prices may go down.... And it would be great to save a few quid . What do you think? Will prices go down- if they do will there be choice as who would want to sell? Driving myself nuts with it all. Any thoughts/ ideas appreciated

Nobody knows because nobody can see into the future. It's really dependant on a few factors, ie is the a unique house or are others likely to come up? How long are you willing to rent for? etc etc

If you’ve found a house you like in a nice area and there’s currently no stamp duty I would just go for it.

I think proces may stall but I wouldn't count on a drop. If you have found a house you like, then the savings from renting and the stamp duty will probably go some way in mitigating any price drop in future.

Prices may go down slightly but you could save upwards of £10k on stamp duty if you buy now.

Would the money you'll spend renting on stamp duty make up to a significant % of the house price?

And, like you say, not much came in the market during the Brexit vote years, which kept prices higher. In fact, it's meant that we have been renting for 2 years longer than we expected. Are you ok for the same thing to maybe happen?

Of course, there will always be people who need to sell, so you could get lucky. And if mass repossessions happen then prices could drop significantly. But that won't switch on like a tap imo. People usually try their hardest to keep their houses do there will be a delay in the effect of a recession.

Not a helpful post, but if we knew the house prices, we'd all be buying in a dip and selling at a peak, which in itself would screw over prices!

I've heard strong arguments for price rises & price drops from people in Govt/Finance/banks.

Both sides making good points

Personally, if my job/income was pretty secure I'd buy if I found an affordable house I liked. Get a good mortgage deal and crack on with life. You'll 'waste' a lot of money in 1/2/3 years renting that's quite an offset to a drop in house prices.

The one thing I'd make sure if though is that the house is suitable to live in for a good chunk of time (I'd probably want it to be 10 years - it goes fast!!) because then even if the prices do drop, you should ride out any negative equity.

Do YOU love the house, you both need to, not just DH.