Wtf is happening to the property market?

[viatheapp]

First time buyer with a decent deposit. Trying to buy a small house in Manchester...every house I've seen has actually sold for about 15k more than it was marketed at!

Obviously I've never bought a house but I assumed they went on the market at a certain price and people usually offered lower? I understand supply and demand etc but why aren't agents putting them on at what they expect to get? It's getting really frustrating 😢

No point me looking at lower price point as I won't get anything in a half decent area for that. Might have to give up!

It's nuts here in n Wales, cash buyers up to£1.5 million. Sold before anyone gets to view. Same with bars and restaurants one guy from London has come up on behalf of clients and bought five business that I know of, they've all been gutted and have interior designers spending a fortune on them. They must think they're going to make a fortune out of staycation tourism

I'm I'm the West of Scotland and houses round here have pretty much always gone for over the asking price. It always amazes me on things like Location Location when they offer way under the asking price - and get it.

In north London suburb, what is priced properly, with a garden and under a million sells quite quickly. Anything around 1.2m to 1.5m sits a fait bit more as, I believe, most people moving out of flats just won’t have the equity to get that budget. 1.5m to 2.0m seems very slow. Flats are deeply unpopular right now for obvious reasons, that is if they are sellable at all with fire certification issus.

I don't believe there will be a crash. And yes you would think people would be moving up the ladder, but what might be happening is people are jumping a rung.
Agents are probably also cause a bit off gayrd. My agdnt told me that he expected the market to fall slightly after Brexit (this was before stamp duty extension), but that didn't seem to have school effect at all. Of you can wait six months, though I actually think you might have to wait almost a year for more to come on the market in significant numbers.

ouchmyfeet

Change your user name, post a link and let us take a look! Another poster ended up with 2 full threads about her house! You need thick skin though.

@ouchmyfeet

Can't bloody sell my "priced to sell" house in Manchester

Where abouts ?

Very busy here in east london...people are snapping up wrecks for around 700k...then spending 100k plus more on total renovation and lofts...a lot of people have sold flats in hackney and made money on them...houses already renovated going for 900k and selling..bonkers...I would be vary wary of paying steep prices at present and wait if i was looking to move.

@Redglitter isn't that the way the market is meant to work in Scotland though? It's a different system. In England agents have usually put properly on at the top end of its value and people make offers. One of the houses I looked at, the agent actually said "don't bother putting an offer in too much over asking price as it's likely to get downvalued on survey" so I offered 2k over and it went to someone else!

I completely sympathise with you @viatheapp. You’re right Scotland is a little different, but we get the valuation with the home report when you first view. But, places up here are going for 15-30k over valuation. It’s mental. I really do feel for you.

Can't bloody sell my "priced to sell" house in Manchester

Where abouts ?

It's in Timperley. Not going to share a link as I don't think the pictures are the issue. We have had lots of viewings but it turns out the only people who were keen are not yet in a position to proceed as they haven't sold their own homes. So from my perspective I don't really recognise the situation in the OP.

It’s a nightmare!
Houses were selling like hot cakes then since end of Jan literally nothing has come up, and what has come on and sold for really inflated prices 🤷‍♀️
The estate agent I spoke to thinks the market will pick up again soon once we are further into the lockdown release.

I honestly think it depends on the area

@BeautyQueenIamNot

It’s a nightmare! Houses were selling like hot cakes then since end of Jan literally nothing has come up, and what has come on and sold for really inflated prices 🤷‍♀️ The estate agent I spoke to thinks the market will pick up again soon once we are further into the lockdown release.

I honestly think it depends on the area

Yes, it's the same here. Extremely limited inventory means houses sell within days (usually the same day they're listed). Nothing more expensive has been added to the market since before Christmas, it's mostly cheaper/smaller properties. Hopefully it'll perk up a bit soon.

Stupid question, guys, but how do you know what the property actually sold for? The agents don't normally disclose this sort of info, do they? I thought you had to wait to see the history on Rightmove a few months down the line?

We're looking to buy a house in Walthamstow and the market is C.R.A.Z.Y.
There are very few houses and the good ones are snapped up within days. It's depressing 😕

I'm in Scotland, and we sold last July within 24 hours. Which was fantastic, but then it proved a nightmare to buy. It got to the stage where we put an offer in without viewing and eventually ended up being successful, but only after 33 viewings and upping our original offer. I was practically on my knees begging the estate agent to help me get the property by this point, as we had 6weeks before our buyer was moving in.
I feel your pain OP, it's horrendous.

In fact, one of the first houses we went to see, ex council, terraced, no parking, needing about 40k worth of work done to it, went for 30k over asking price. It's mental at the minute, and no, I can't see it slowing down anytime soon.

We are in north manchester and hoping to put ours on the market in the next few weeks. We bought a 3 bed end terrace 3 years ago for about 15k over asking price.

We are currently being valued at about 50k over that for asking price with the expectation it will likely go for 10-15k over that.

It is totally nuts and has been for a while!

@ouchmyfeet Hello neighbour 👋. I'm surprised, everything I've looked at in the area seems to sell so quickly. I'm desperate to move but feel I'm stuck for a while 😞

Place’s don’t seem to be selling where I live. There was a sudden surge last summer with the stamp duty and lot’s of people coming from London to the ‘countryside’ but now it seems pretty dead.

We are in mancheste and moved in January. We sold our old house for over asking on the first day it was up for sale and had to pay over asking on the house we’ve bought. It was the same with every house we viewed, and was the same when we bought our last house

My hand night a one bedroom ex council flat and it was valued last July at £62k. The one five doors up, identical layout and garden but awful cheap council white kitchen, broken cardboard dues etc just sold after a week on the market for £80k. That is insane to me! We live in a crappy little town with nothing at all. Christ, we are all buzzing with excitement because we are getting a Lidl soon 😂. No train station, an hour away from Liverpool/Manchester on public transport. But at the same time, a year ago you could walk into a council property within 2-3 months from applying but now it's more like 6-12 . And they are throwing mchouses up left right and Center using all of green spaces too.

It's crazy here. Prices up about 20k compared to last year. Lots of viewings for each property. A lot of people now have a deposit as they've been able to save. I also think there is a bit of panic buying. It's unusual and will probably steady itself.

Stupid question, guys, but how do you know what the property actually sold for? The agents don't normally disclose this sort of info, do they? I thought you had to wait to see the history on Rightmove a few months down the line?

The agent told me last week what the highest offer was on the house I viewed. She knew my budget wasn't that high so I couldn't get into a bidding war over it. The one I viewed and offered on this week (and it wasn't even my perfect house, needed quite a bit of work) she didn't tell me the amount but said the offer was "substantially more" than my budget.

I just wish there was more on the market...that would help! Every two bed terrace seems to attract tons of potential buyers, the agents are block booking viewings across the week and getting a sale straight away (in the areas I want to live)

I've noticed some particularly grabby behaviour on a number of what look like probate properties. £550k for a 3 bed semi that's had nothing done to it since the 1970's? No thanks.

Why do you consider it grabby if its a probate property? Surely these properties are being marketed at the price suggested by the estate agent. Same as any other property. Do you think probate properties should be sold at a lower price just because they're probate properties?

I bought a 2 bed terrace in Leeds 2 years ago for £105k and just sold for £135k to buy with my partner.

It’s a combination of a few things IMO. Lots of companies including the one I work for are moving operations north as they can get much more for their money. I work in digital marketing and the industry is booming in Manc and Leeds. I also know Ftb who have moved north to buy after living in London to get ahead in their careers. Plus demand is outstripping supply.

We have had two purchases fall through now and in that time including looking for our current purchase have viewed maybe 50 houses. We have a good idea what we want and when we find it we go in at asking price. Current house went on Rightmove when it was snowing heavily. We made the effort (walked ) to the viewing that same day to see if when all others were cancelled so we could put the offer in. If you are really clear about what you want I don’t see the need to wait around or offer below.

Don't buy anything yet.
As covid drags on, a lot of people do not yet realise that they are going to lose their jobs.
A major depression is coming.
Wait.

@Jammiedodged going in at asking price now gets you laughed at i'm afraid. Offering 5k over asking price is just a starting point. I get why houses are selling, what I don't get is why the agents are putting them on so low in the first place...if they know a house will get 170k why advertise it at 150? It's just frustrating for buyers.