Anyone noticed the market has changed?

[yaxe]

We are in the process of buying (have sold) & it was mad in March, lots of overbidding etc. I've noticed now reductions & stuff is staying on rather than going in a wk. It's making me a bit nervous tbh.

This thread asks if the housing market is changing. I was told yesterday by an EA that a seller expected to receive offers in access of the guide price. We are the first and only offer in the last 5 weeks since the house was launched. Two other local agents (including a personal friend) pitched for the instruction but valued it at £50k less. The seller has asked for a 200% increase in value without adding square footage. We offered 97% to guide as it suits a disabled family member. I feel really upset as we were told they were open to offers. We have nothing to sell. We could up our offer but I doubt we would get our money back in the next 5 years. Any advice welcome.

Just leave your offer on the table. Sounds like they are lucky to have it. Keeping looking around at other things, but let them work out for themselves whether they want to sit unsold in a market where people will struggle to get mortgages. They also risk being downvalued at survey by the sound of it.

You would be crazy to pay more at the moment with house prices expected to fall and this property having been valued much lower by other agents.
The seller will need to revise their expectations. It isn't Summer 2021 any more.

London is a massive speculative bubble, it is highly risky, many of the "overseas buyers" were using cheap debt just like buyers here, the really smart money exited UK property during the Stamp Duty Holiday (why do you think they changed the rules to create that exit window and are now doing their best to crash everything! Banks don`t make money if nobody can borrow!) Now that the Chinese bubble is imploding there will be far less money (and students) coming from there.

@Doubleraspberry @rainingsnoring
Just a quick update. Further email yesterday to say seller has now reconsidered our offer and would like to accept. However our mortgage offer is now £100k less! Not an easy decision as we need to move.

They would have been fools not to considering what has been going on in the last few days. I would say they are very fortunate indeed to have your offer on the table at all.

Here’s Rightmove’s take on things

www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2022/9/rightmove-tries-to-steady-housing-market-nerves?source=newsticker

Another useful article

www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/article/will-house-prices-drop/

I think from the start of this thread to now, quite clearly the answer is a definite yes with only some outliers now left

Yes, there are always outliers that just won`t accept healthy change, the best thing for ordinary people is cheap property, I have never heard a good argument against that yet.

I bet they have after seeing which way the wind is blowing! I would offer what you said. If there is a big drop in the next few months, go back and ask for a reduction.

There's been a load of new listings and reductions in the area I am looking in, today. Sadly nothing that matches my criteria (yet!).

I wonder if lots of people are now trying to sell and secure mortgage rates before they rise too high?

Mortgage rates are now hitting 6%, yes the market has changed.........for the better.

Yikes - lots of new listings in my area of C London, particularly mansion flats with >£5k service charges. One flat purchased in 2014 is now on the market at the same price (1.25 million). I’ve noticed quite a few being sold at a loss. Prices are still silly though.

Lots of new listings here and quite a lot of reductions. I’ve just heard 100,000 people a month need to remortgage. And that solicitors are being advised to exchange and complete on the same day to avoid mortgage offers being withdrawn at the the final hour 🥴

My solicitor in Edinburgh claims everything is super busy still. If prices are due to fall it won't be this side of xmas is my guess

Yes, 2014 prices were just a piss take (enabled by stupid people with too much cheap credit to play with) they have to crash a lot to get back to any kind of sanity.

propertyindustryeye.com/mortgage-rates-set-for-another-big-rise-today-as-major-lenders-revise-deals/#comments

Their mortgage offer just dropped 100k? That is a big drop, and they should be telling the seller that a further 100k is coming off the offer immediately.

And that solicitors are being advised to exchange and complete on the same day to avoid mortgage offers being withdrawn at the the final hour 🥴

I wonder who said this? I thought it was unlikely that mortgage offers would be withdrawn (even though agreements in principle might be). Also, once you’ve returned the signed and witnessed mortgage deed before exchange, isn’t the deal legally binding?

Also, it isn’t always possible to exchange and complete on the same day, as the slowest banks can take up to seven working days to transfer the money.

So much misinformation on mumsnet. Gives pause for thought about believing anything on here.

As per Sky news article yesterday

Last paragraph “he confirmed it is true mortgages can be withdrawn this late in the day, with solicitors now being advised to exchange and complete on the same day “

Maybe the Mortgage Broker who fact checked this specifically for Sky News is wrong though.

So signing the mortgage deed isn’t legally binding? This is confusing.

I’d be happy to exchange and complete on the same day, but my mortgage is with NatWest (one of the slowest banks according to the estate agent). I’ve transferred my deposit and we’ll exchange ASAP, however the estate agent was adamant that we can’t complete for several days.

To be fair to NatWest, they were the only lender who would give me a mortgage for my first property, a freehold flat.

We have been looking to move for a while. Where very few nice properties were being reduced over the last couple of years it be starting to happen. Often houses going up are being reduced within a couple of days! I wonder how many of the reductions are being driven by estate agents and how much by the sellers.

Could be a coincidence, but I've noticed lots of 900k+ houses coming on. Big detached properties. In fact the adjacent postcode to mine (which starts about 3 mins away in the car) has had 9 go on in the last few days. Cheapest 975k, up to 1.5 million. It's an expensive area, but usually a good mix of price points. Like I said could be a coincidence but it makes me wonder whether mortgages and the cost to run them are pushing some onto the market.