House prices , ridiculous at the moment or no?

[Dizzybrunette445]

Hi everyone, I just need to rant about the current property market. Is it a joke where you are as well??
We are trying to find a bigger house as I've just had a baby.. they have been listing houses in some scummy areas where we live for £340k.. which is our budget.. everything has shot up to an extortionate amount, everyone is offering over the asking price for everything and not by £500.. by £20k to be truthful, it's getting on my tits.
Is there any light at the end of the tunnel for us all??

@24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed

On the other end of the spectrum I hope it stick out like this for a little bit longer.

We’re off to view a show home tomorrow in view to buying a new build.
However we need to sell out house first- a two bedroom house we brought for £140k 3 years ago- that were now about to put on the market for £190k. We’ve barely done anything to it except put a driveway in and paint the rooms. Pretty happy with the profit and dying to get our hand on a new build in the area we want.

All fingers crossed for me.. then after we’ve sold I hope the market calms down for you all!

When you are trading up in a market, increases in price actually disadvantage you, because the gap between what you get and what you pay for the next one gets bigger. It really only benefits those who are trading down, or getting out (like a probate sale). Part of the UK problem is people thinking that their house going up in price makes them richer, hence the DM and Express being obsessed with house prices. With the above exceptions, it makes most people poorer. And makes it harder for FTB to get on the ladder too.

@AdaThorne

My friend is a solicitor and is saying that the issue is probate delays due to covid. She's saying that when things start moving properly and families are able to start putting houses of relatives have passed away due to covid onto the market things will change significantly because the market will flood. She works for a small ish local firm just outside of London and they have 150 clients (most who owned property) whose wills/probate they are dealing with and which have been dragging on because of the bureaucracy delays.

Of course by the time they get to the market the sold property comparables of the last nine months or so of bonkersness might still see them up higher - but at least there will be more available!

That's an interesting aspect of the situation. One to watch, definitely.

Same here OP but people are going so far as 75k over to secure property 😩

I wonder what FTBs will do with those HTB flats that they purchased? The amount of flats on the market is extortionate. I held back from buying it and was just renting, but since me and my partner have very healthy income we have lots of cash accumulated. We are not even looking into buying so called FTB flats (even though we are FTB) which are/used to be 500-600k through HTB schemes in London zone 3-4. But someone did purchase them and whom are they going to sell them to? No family will be buying them as a step up, and FTBs who can afford to spend 600k will rather buy a house then second hand flat which some advertise as "new".

When a bank and, a department store decide to become large scale landlords you know the ability to buy a home will become more and more out of reach.
Madness. I feel very sorry for generation rent.

I don't think there is a problem to buy via HTB etc., many did. I just wonder whom are they going to sell these onto. One of the reasons why I didn't buy one myself. I decided to rent until I had money for a decent purchase. In the end I am in no worse position. I guess it just depends how much people are willing to spend on rent, I dont rent 3 bed semi :) Renting outweighs worries such as: 1) can't shift the flat 2) making the loss on sale 3) negative equity, which I think is unavoidable in current climate, for many many flat owners.

We recently viewed a house that we liked in North London. We rang the agent 2 days later for a second viewing and it turns out there was a bit of a bidding war and the property is now sold (under offer) for 25K over the listed price. This is crazy as most of thr properties seem to be flying off the market within days.

My view is not to panic and just let people bid or whatever they wan to do with those houses :) This demand will dry up, it always does as the past showed us. I am not living on unrealistic dreams of some housing crashes or something, but this demand will calm down for sure. On the other hand the rents are going down, so I am quite happy about that.

There was no flood of properties back on the market as the buyers that missed the stamp duty deadline decided they couldn't pay the extra amount, nor has there been loads of sales falling through due to down valuations as some were predicting. Around me (sw London, I completed last month) the market has been strong and remains so. But it's a popular area, near two Ofsted rated outstanding primary schools and within walking distance of train and tube. I have noticed that prices have edged up to over £1m, when for the last five years properties have gone for betweeen £800-£950k, but I got mine under asking, albeit a few days after going on the market. There is one house listed at £1.35m, over £400k more than what I paid for mine with maybe £50k of extra bells and whistles and arguably better end of the road. It has stuck.
But the occasional ridiculous pricing aside, I expect regardless of Brexit, stamp duty, world economy, this area will remain popular and therefore prices will rise.
I do remember in the 80s when I sold my first flat for just over £100k that I was incredibly lucky and that price wouldn't be seen again - it sold last year for over £800k. I could just about afford it then (even with interest rates at 14%), but no way could my son afford it now, even if buying with his girlfriend.

@tanguero agreed. Each boom tends to last at least a couple of years before crashing or levelling off. Its also not just Uk 5this time, it’s a global boom. I heard on the radio that USA house prices are set to increase by 50% this year alone!!!!!

Too much free flowing credit. Interest rates need to rise for any stabilisation in the property market to occur.