SW England housing market?

[ghostinthehouse]

Those of you buying/selling in SW England at the moment... what is the market like? Just to give an idea, we are approximately 1h30 commute to central London, in a village but surrounded by countryside, mid-sized family home, all pretty standard tbh.

Actually wanted to sell and buy last year, but when we were finally ready, the timing couldn't have been worse with Truss-gate and BoE. Now looking to put it on the market in time for this summer, but finding it hard to get a feel for things... Last summer we saw lots of fast sales for high prices in our area, which is obviously no longer the case - in fact there barely seems to be any activity at all. Just wondering how people who are actively selling/buying have found it so far?

Fwiw, we are at that stage in life where an upsize is needed, might move a bit further out to accommodate this.

Thank you!

Well, I'm in SE Cornwall and seeing lots of house prices being reduced after months on the market. Not a lot seems to be selling quickly here.

I'm still seeing idiots with prices that are absolutely pie in the sky going on Rightmove right now - my neighbour is up for £178k with a 2bed house where the living room ceiling collapsed and has been left like that for 3yrs without a repair. The house is a mess with no work done on it for years so a poor state of repair in all rooms, garden that's a bramble bush, windows all blown etc. A 3 bed house in the parallel street is in much better nick and just needs painting throughout as it's been a rental for a while (the tenant passed away in hospital and had been there for a very long time) and it's on for £180k.

I know people say if they are priced sensibly they'll go quickly, but with the interest rates increase again yesterday, lots of people will be reconsidering their ability to move / get a mortgage.

@PinkFootstool thank you for replying. That seems in line with the little I've seen/heard. Do you get the feeling there is simply less on the market to begin with? Last summer I had so many things favorited on rightmove (even though the prices were very high) but now there seem to be fewer listings...

Agree that the rate rise won't help - we're not in a great position ourselves thanks to this. But due to upsizing and other personal reasons we are quite keen to make the move...

We're in the Bristol area currently renting having sold last year. We're looking to buy in the countryside/towns to the south and west of the city.

Here I believe the market peaked last spring/early summer with stuff flying off the market for high asking prices or even above. There seemed to be pent up demand after Covid. Since then property comes to the market steadily and often it seems that what PinkFootstool said is true, people are trying to ride the coat tails of the peak. Houses come on at really ambitious prices, then sit there, price drops two weeks later, still sits there, price drops a month on and then it either sales or sits for ages. There's a lot of flawed property out there with buyers hopeful of making a killing purely on the basis of expectation rather than reality.

When we've said this to estate agents they've agreed and said that sellers are ambitious and that low offers might well be accepted. Hope this helps and good luck with your move
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@GabrielleLegs thank you, that does help!

I'm personally not bothered about us selling for "less" if we also buy for "less" - it's only relative to last year's peak, after all. But the rate rises will be tricky to navigate...

I think OH is still clinging on to the idea that we might turn a profit, although I think that ship has sailed (as you said, it would be riding the coattails). Hopefully the EA will give us a realistic estimate.

Good luck with your search as well, I hope you find the right thing!

I'm on the Devon/Somerset border & agree the market has slowed considerably since last year. There are quite a lot of new homes going up which is affecting pricing & older properties. A lot of houses are being reduced, some multiple times before selling, others are just sitting on the market. Some have been listed for years - especially those over half million.
I'd say the 4-bed market (the one we're interested in) has the most movement & least amount of available properties. Lots & lots of 3-beds though. But even the new houses are being reduced & the builders are offering lots of incentives, which they weren't before.
We aren't selling yet - had wanted to, then Covid, & then all the fluctuations have made it too risky so holding out for now, but I still stalk Rightmove regularly.

I have family who are in Somerset and have sold their house very quickly, apparently things are still pretty fast moving, though not as fast as 2021/2022. We live on the Wales/England border and it also seems fairly strong here, though I think prices are more sensible and less inflated.

@APurpleSquirrel thank you - very good to know as we are actually looking in this area (amongst others) and also at 4-beds. What you said would explain why rightmove feels a bit uninspiring right now.

@WaitingfortheTardis thank you too - it's good to hear it's not completely dead...

I'm just kicking myself for not just pulling the trigger this time last year on moving, but I guess hindsight is 20/20...

The price of rural properties are almost inline with inner city, this is unheard of historically. Many markets mainly outside of London, saw HUGE gains over the last 2-3 years in areas where there is zero employment.
Anywhere south of Oxford, many properties are being reduced because they are simply ridiculously overinflated. North of and the price ceiling hasn’t been reached, there prices may still be rising but at a much slower rate than last year.
Combined with high interest rates and soaring inflation this means FTB (+50% of the buying market) are not able to buy at these prices down south. Also they’re not interested, it is a bad deal and very risky. So those big gains are now receding to accommodate the market.
Prices are going one way for a while longer yet. I think this is just the start let’s see.

Really variable is what I am seeing, I think there are still buyers who are in rented waiting to pick the right thing up . Friend in Plymouth accepted offer recently first day they were on at what was felt to be a slightly ambitious price We’re south of Bristol and noticed 2 houses in local area going under offer immediately and one that went on Dec 21 has just gone under offer.

However there are lots of reductions still and things sticking. We’ve just exchanged and got offer accepted 10% under asking. The SW is a huge area and there will be lots of variation.

I'm in South East Cornwall. Prices have been being reduced and not a lot is selling, apart from the very high end million pound plus houses. There are 23 houses on Rightmove in my village.

My neighbour has just put his 3 bedroom house on the market for 850k. He bought it in 2017 for 430k and has not done anything to it so I can't see where that figure comes from.

That’s a perfect example of how ridiculously horrific and unjust the market has become for normal people, especially those living in rural areas with traditionally low employment like Cornwall.
I hope the market continues to decline for a very long time for the sake of our countrys future.

I’m in N Devon. Things hanging around for a long time at the moment.

That's a bit shortsighted. Lots of people would end up losing their homes in the situation uou describe.

Like all markets the housing market goes in cycles, there is a risk factor with all investments and should be factored in beforehand.

I doubt as many people will lose their houses, the cycle always goes up again.

The housing market is draining everybody’s funds, there’s not much left for other markets. It needs to correct and is starting now.

I’m in Truro. You’ve got the houses priced to sell, they stay on a little longer than usual but they sell. Then you see people being ridiculous, there’s houses on for 450 that are terraces on main roads.

I find that greedy but I think it might be the EA’s pricing really high for reductions maybe? I think it puts people off though. Then it’s got crazier lately with the ones that usually would have been about 400-450 being priced at 600!

I want to offer on a house that’s in the perfect spot for me and would have usually been in my budget but they’ve put it on right at the very top of what I expected so now I’ll feel cheeky offering and will have to forget it!!

I wish it could just line up a bit with wages, I’m on a good wage and I can’t live where I work. I don’t think I could even bloody rent there.

I see that a lot in Truro. Where I was wanting to move to the houses are now up by 150 in the space of 9 months. Nothing has changed. The estate agents have a part in this I think and are setting a high precedent for second home owners. Working local people on good wages are just priced out and have to live far away from family.

It won’t line up with wages, not in the way you’re thinking anyway unfortunately, but it might improve. You’re right though, it’s basically pure greed from all angles.

I dont think Cornwall is worth the money at all, and sadly is now full weird wanna be rich people who bring their demands.

No it won't line up with wages, but as per another thread, DH and I have an income of over £70k. We can't get back to West Cornwall as we're priced out of the area. That's with £100k equity in this house and a good income. It really does demonstrate how screwed up it all is.

Yeah that true. I look on rightmove every day and have a chuckle. 850 for a 3 bedroom house with everything ripped out 🥴

That’s just unbelievable isn’t it. I’m buying with cash and not a bad budget and cannot get a house. Can’t get an offer accepted. I’ve given up now. It’s all a bit gutting really.

I live in a very popular with Londoners small town/village in Somerset - I've been there three years, came from the south east originally, and have made 70K on it already, prices haven't stopped going up. The house next door to me didn't even make it onto rightmove it was sold the first day it was on the market.
Which was incredibly annoying because I wanted to buy it as it was end of terrace and had a much bigger garden.
Not much stays on the market for very long.

What village is that?

SE Cornwall here too.

Places in tip top condition and high (but not stupid high) price appear to be going under offer but anything else is a bit stagnant and I see reduced prices daily.

We've got 90 properties available at the moment in our close area from 200k up (to exclude the caravans) and that's more usually 50 and in the peak fell to about 20.

The issue with here though is there aren't all.that many properties anyway so finding one to actually live in and be practical (sensible accessibility, parking, decent access to services) will be tricky anytime not just now.

We are right on the coast though - inland there tends to be more choice.

I'm just north of Bristol and put my house on the market in November. I hadn't bought or sold for 15 years so like a complete idiot and with misgivings I believed the valuation the estate agent gave me. I got just 3 viewings before Xmas. After Xmas I rang the EA (I rang them not they rang me) and dropped the price, we had a few more viewings but nothing more. In March I took it off the market, took 6 weeks to do the garden and paint the back of the house to brighten it - and have a rest and regroup.

When we were ready, we talked to three "new" estate agents and ended up going with a more hands-on EA who suggested the lowest (but I feel more realistic) price. It's still in line with what next door sold for in 2021 and what I thought it would go for all along. We went live yesterday. We've had 6 viewings, and someone wants a second viewing next week. I'm much more hopeful this time around. I just wish the first EA had been a little more realistic and also listened to my misgivings. Though obviously no-one twisted my arm, I was guilty of "well they* should know better than me".