Would you hold off moving house for now ?

[needmysleep]

With the current economic chaos and sudden rise in interest rates would you hold off on moving house for now ?

Yes

Yes

No

It depends. Ideally people continue to move - we don’t want the market to get frozen. But with so many mortgage deals being withdrawn many people won’t have a choice. If you need to move (need more space, neighbours/commute is unbearable etc) and you’d be planning to be in the new place for a long time then just do it because the quality of life will make a difference and the cost will probably even out over time.

Waiting until 2033/2024. Does that count as holding off.

Depends. If you're down sizing I'd say go ahead. Not to extend the mortgage.

I can't remember the last time there was a 'good' time to move. Crisis after crisis. For years

Yes definitely

I'm waiting until 2023/2024 to upsize

No. For me it’s a good time to move. I can port my 0.8% mortgage and I have made enough money on my house to gain an extra bedroom and bigger garden in same area without increasing my mortgage.
However, who knows if the chain will stay together

I also moved mid pandemic in 2020 when many people advised me it was a terrible time to move - it was best move I could have made financially

I’m planning to move next year come what may.

I'm actively looking to buy. But I'm lucky to be a cash buyer so the mortgage rates don't apply/concern me personally (of course I'm worried for friends/family and the economy).

Personally I would yes only because there’s a reason that the stamp duty threshold has been changed and it’s clearly to hold up the market and keep things moving to Lizzie‘s benefit so for that reason alone I’d refuse to be part of it.

in all seriousness though it’s absolute chaos out there on the markets. I’ve been told by both the Halifax on the Natwest to just wait and see I was gonna panic move my mortgage to them and pay the £5000 redemption and they both think that that’s 0TT.

Yes still planning to. Need to relocate. The bigger issue is - will I find a buyer for my house? And what sort of financial loss will I have to accept?

I think it's so dependant on personal circumstance.

I'm entering the home straight on a move, but I'm porting my (fairly small) mortgage and not adding to it at all so although I have some reservations about what happens when my fix ends next year, and about some other increased costs I'll likely face, on balance I don't think it'll put me in too difficult a position. Had I opted to stretch myself - which I did think about - then I'm pretty sure I'd have rethought things and pulled out some time ago.

I think the stuff to hear in mind is:

• Mortgage rates are likely to rise, and deals may disappear overnight, so what you can currently afford may not be what you'd be able to afford at the point of applying for a mortgage.

• I know everyone always says a fall in house prices is just around the corner, but this time I think it may actually be true - which could impact anyone likely to go into negative equity.

And bear in mind that even if these things don't affect you, they could affect other people in any chain you become part of - so the whole process could end up even more stressful than usual. Were I not already doing it, if probably wait for things to calm down a bit before proceeding, to be honest.

I can’t see a fall in house prices happening.

Those of you who say you’re porting your mortgage, I’m trying to do that at the moment and it’s definitely not going smoothly. Having applied, they have the all info from me, the valuation on the new property came out fine - still no decision. They’ve been putting me off now for at least three weeks and I’m just not getting an offer. My broker is saying that decisions are taking a lot longer at the moment but I’m really worried they’re going to say no.

I've held off. But, it was a move based on wants rather than needs. With everything so unstable at the moment I decided I'd rather not increase my mortgage or spend £££££ on stamp duty and fees.

This. Certainly not in my desirable area of south Manchester. Demand far outstrips supply in my area.

I am looking at a house today and putting my house on the market with strike to save £££. If I get a buyer in time for my offer to be accepted then I will move.

Unless it is desirable to hongkongers who are not affected by interest rates and now experiencing a discount due to the weakening pound (like in PCL), I don't see how it can not fall. And I think even the hongkongers would wait.

Demand and supply does not matter if the buyer can't get a mortgage for the amount they need. When interest rates rise to 8%, that massively affects the amount you borrow. Even cash buyers (downsizers) rely on their buyers getting a big enough mortgage..investors with plenty of spare cash know they are in a favourable position and would also hold off..for years, house prices have been out of sync with incomes but a big part of this was fueled by low interest rates which enabled people to borrow 4 or 5 times income. Even bank of mum and dad was fueled by that as they would sell or remortgage their houses and part of that was dependent on people being able to get big mortgages relatively easily.

I don’t know what to do. We really need to move but if prices fall 20% then that is a lot of our deposit gone and we couldn’t port our mortgage.

I’m definitely holding off

@KangarooKenny
''I can’t see a fall in house prices happening.''

Except it already has in many areas. You only had to look at the number of homes being reduced.

A lot depends on circumstances. Lots of things to take into consideration, the primary one is can you afford the mortgage (if you have one), should the interest rates go high