Confused!! Is the London property market going like the clappers or not??!!

[samosamo]

Seen so many threads in here saying IT'S CRAZY!!!! others that it's slow as a snail!!!

Will breaking it down in this way help us?
Flats with garden
Flats without garden
Houses over £1m
Houses under £1m

What's your experience of the last say, 6 months? I can say i just bought what I thought was a bargain. Couldn't understand why others hadn't nabbed it (well I kinda can, but also not). That gave me the impression it was slow. It was on the market for £1.1m.

What's your experience?

My two bed plus study mid-terrace west London house went on the market in December and only a price drop in March resulted in interest and we accepted an asking offer last week. Obviously lockdown didn't help but I didn't experience the feeding frenzy I hoped for even after the price drop. Other factors to consider are that we have a small garden in comparison with neighbouring houses and a shower room only.

It's nuts where I am but I think it's because there was so little stock over the last year that now it's on the market it's flying. 2 bed next door to me with a downstairs bathroom just sold in a week at full ask of 650. It's so nit worth 650 to my mind.

Se London, zone 4/5 border

Our family house with garden in S London was snapped up fast in December, new house, also S London, went to best and final offers (and over the asking price).

Not much on the market now.

Around here, in SE London, studio/1&2-bed flats are struggling to sell (or being collected en-masse by BTL investors at rock bottom prices), whereas 3-beds and houses are short supply but high demand, and commanding ridiculous prices. The rungs on the property ladder feel like they've never been further apart!

I'm buying in SW London three bed terrace at just cer £900k. It was on the market fir a while as others nearby were sold quickly because its slightly smaller maybe, but when I realised I was going to have to extend at my price range I went for it as it ticked most other boxes. Mist other houses were just over the £1m mark and I could afford that but not to make any changes, and they were being fought over. I think mine will be better than those once I spend £100k on it.
But streets I always thought of as poor cousins were getting over £1m and selling quickly. But I'm not sure all of these quickfire sales will reach completion.

@rbubu

Around here, in SE London, studio/1&2-bed flats are struggling to sell (or being collected en-masse by BTL investors at rock bottom prices), whereas 3-beds and houses are short supply but high demand, and commanding ridiculous prices. The rungs on the property ladder feel like they've never been further apart!

Are these with or without gardens or both? And zones 1-2 or further out?

@kirinm: no garden (or communal only), zone 3/4, 20 mins door to Central London by train.

[quote rbubu]@kirinm: no garden (or communal only), zone 3/4, 20 mins door to Central London by train.[/quote]
Thanks. We are on the verge of going on the market but our to-do list seems to be growing not reducing.

I think if you're buying it's going like the clappers, if you're selling it's slow as a snail.

Very mixed here in SW London. EAs will have you believe everything is going to sealed bids but this only seems to be the case for houses over £1.5m range where stock comes on at a pace of about a house a fortnight and there’s a frenzy. Some cheaper houses are going quickly but it’s not nearly as buoyant as the EAs say (surprise, surprise..!).

We are looking at large houses that come on the the market quite rarely (none in the particular area we like best in 2020). So it’s manic when anything does turn up...

But the more common small terraces I have seen stick around a little bit and see some reductions - but probably eventually selling at much higher prices than last year.

Have been watching market in Herne Hill/East Dulwich for a while now:

Flats, particularly those without gardens, aren’t selling.

3-4 bed houses £800-1000k were stuck and reducing prices up until Jan, and then in the last month they have all been snapped up. Obviously I don’t know what is being offered, but there are none left at the minute. No new ones coming on the market.

Houses £1-1.5m have always flown off. Again, I have no idea if they are getting asking price, but there are definitely buyers.

We are probably going to buy next year - we’re in no hurry to move and I can’t be doing with sealed bids etc.

Just signing in. I’d reiterate what a PP said about flats without gardens in se London, and I’m also seeing some houses my way (£850-1.2m) hanging around a bit. But I’m off for some viewings this week so may get a clearer picture!

Flats with garden - good value and priced to sell are selling, but at a slower pace than usual. Most buyers are young (under 35) with a couple more years of London living in them....

Flats without garden - generally not selling, especially those in blocks.

Houses over £1m - these are family sized homes in my area, so 4 beds. Only really selling if in good catchment, nice roads, have all the requirements of a family looking to stay long term in the area.

Houses under £1m - mixed bag. Small houses are selling (2 beds) as these generally cost just slightly more than 2 bed flats so are seen as better value, especially if they are extendable - longevity. Mid sized 3 beds are not selling unless priced well. Trouble is the people who need 3 beds are often a couple with 2 kids, where previously this would be ok, with working from home and the need for an office, 3 bed houses are in difficult territory.

I’m in SW London and it slow at the moment despite what EAs are saying

I think it depends on the property.

After the lockdowns we’ve had to endure, I imagine a lot of people are trying to move out of flats into houses with outside space.

East london here in gentrified / yuppy area....houses selling within days....but interestingly many back on market again within a few days many times but then go ahead...3 bed terraces that need total work going for 650 to 700k...done up with small loft etc selling for 900k !..quite a few new build smart flats all empty and none sold yet.

Garden flats are going like the clappers. I put in a bid of 525k on a 2 bed listed at 535K which i thought was fairly overpriced frankly, but for various reasons it suited our wants so we wanted it for a family member so put in a good offer. It went for close to £600k.

In terms of houses:
houses at 1-1.2m ish (these are 4 beds or 5 beds round here) are selling well but only if not in shit state which frankly a lot of them are (a lot of asset rich, cash poor dellusional golden oldies who "might move" round here)

Anything detached at 1.2m+ is indeed going like the clappers whatever the condition

I am outer north London.

We completed on a house in SW London this month. Most houses were going fast and close to or over asking. We got into a couple of closed bid situations before we bought our house, which had only been on the market for a week or two when we nabbed it.

I live in a block of 8 flats. 2 are on the market and are not shifting. I've been nosy and looked them up on Zoopla and imho (I'm no expert) I think both are horrendously overpriced. People are still marketing flat at pre-pandemic levels but in my area (inner SE London) they are not desirable.

Forgot to add, none of our flats have exclusive use of the lawn.

@JackieWeaverFever

Garden flats are going like the clappers. I put in a bid of 525k on a 2 bed listed at 535K which i thought was fairly overpriced frankly, but for various reasons it suited our wants so we wanted it for a family member so put in a good offer. It went for close to £600k.

In terms of houses:
houses at 1-1.2m ish (these are 4 beds or 5 beds round here) are selling well but only if not in shit state which frankly a lot of them are (a lot of asset rich, cash poor dellusional golden oldies who "might move" round here)

Anything detached at 1.2m+ is indeed going like the clappers whatever the condition

I am outer north London.

Purely out of self-interest, which area is this in?

There aren't that many flats coming on in my area within the value range I assume ours will fall under and so I'm reliant on EA to tell me what the market is doing. And if there are few flats being sold, I don't trust them to tell me the truth!

I anticipated that broadly speaking, every buyers requirement for X number of bedrooms has essentially increased by 1. Mapping that across the London property market as it looked in 2019/early 2020 & the relative demand levels then between different property sizes, I think it's still playing out but looks to be following that trend?

I agree with @JackieWeaverFever - everything detached in outer North London (minimum £1.8M which will need lots of work) is flying off the shelves unless there is an "issue" - the garden has been sold off, there is a planning issue or it's outside walking distance to tube/train. The exception to the last bit is the "super league" where no-one uses public transport!

Semis up to 1.5M selling very quickly too. A 3 bed will be around the million mark, 4/5 will be up to 1.5M but depends on the road, parking, garden etc.

Flats - not so much. There are very few garden flats with private access to gardens so I can't comment if they're holding up. But in general, the flats are not selling, particularly high end flats. I know someone relisting their house for the 2nd time because each time the buyers couldn't shift their flats. The seller has decided not to take offers from flat owners again.

I would say though that there was an over-supply of high end flats in recent years and people are sticking out for above their original asking price. But people don't want to pay £650K for a 2 bed flat now it seems.
When that changes, we may see that sector of the market start to shift.