The current market is utterly depressing

[DrinkingLattes]

Does anyone else feel the same way?

I'm a first time buyer and started house hunting around 4 months ago after my contract in work was made permanent. Deposit and AIP ready and solicitor lined up but there is absolutely nothing coming onto the market. I check right move every day and there are around 6-7 properties being listed but they are all flats or 4-5 bedroom houses. Where have all the starter homes gone? Is it just the time of year or the fact prices have fallen? I know people (myself included) were hoping that prices would come down due the mortgage rate rises but now it seems like people just don't want to sell... it's depressing

We've been in our "starter home" for 10 years now, because our previous attempt to move fell through, and now it's so expensive to get anything even a little bigger, so we've decided to stay put. So possibly a lot of people in starter homes have decided just to remain living in them.

Also, friends who've sold their "starter homes" recently have sold them to empty nesters downsizing, rather than first-time buyers. I presume the former are cash buyers and therefore a more attractive prospect.

If I had 2 more years on a cheap fixed rate mortgage in your position I would stay put I think. Who cares what other mums think and you may be imagining they are judging you because that’s horrible if true.

Don’t put up with any bullshit from your Buyer. If they pull out it won’t be the worst thing as then you can decide to stay where you are and save money for a few more months.

People on these threads often say Sellers are dicks but I’m seeing lots of examples of Buyers being dicks too! Like asking for reductions in price after offering a certain price to secure a property then asking for a reduction without even a survey to justify it.

We are stuck in our starter home 9 years on as now that we are ready to buy a bigger home, the interest rates have dropped our buying power by £100k since we started looking 6-7 months ago. Houses the next step up are now either out of reach or people aren't putting them on the market as they're waiting for the market to recover as they want bubble prices.

They may just be in the same position as you re houses the next size up being out of their reach unless they can achieve a certain price. It’s not that they necessarily want bubble prices but that they are stuck as you are.

The housing market is like a super-tanker during a slow down. Many people won't move or can't move for the reasons discussed. But gradually the 3 D's - Death, Debt and Divorce - along with willing movers, will ensure that the new prices are revealed. A buyer needs to be blessed with patience.

6 years ago when we moved into our 3 bed, I would have expected us to be moving on to a 4 bed around now, but the price difference between the two is so great, it's just not worth it. Got the attic converted instead!

This is why shocks in the market aren't helpful to FTBs, some people assume prices suddenly coming down will help them, but those on the ladder tend to stay stubbornly still until the market calms unless they absolutely have to move.

It sucks OP, hopefully things will settle, people will get the lay of the land and the market will pick up a bit, keep your eyes peeled.

We had a 3 bed end of terrace with a box room. When we started looking to upsize, adding an extra 100k to the mortgage didn't really add much in terms of space. Maybe a small double instead of the box room, an en-suite or a utility but often it was just a slightly larger version of what we had.

We decided to move to a cheaper area and got a lot more for that extra 100k. We don't have children and it's where DH works so it was quite an easy decision. Lots of our friends have decided to stay put for now and wait until after the childcare years.

It has always been the case that it costs a huge amount for just a little extra space, like 100k to move from a 2 bed to a 3 bed or 3 to 4 ( more in some cases). We’ve moved a lot and that’s been true in our areas since we first bought in the late 80s. What makes it hard now is the relatively high interest rates combined with the price of property compared to salaries.

What we did in the past was move to a cheaper area. We also used inheritance money to move up but not everyone has that of course.

New build? Although watch out for the Winkle Spanners! If you're not sure what I'm one about, watch a few shorts on this snagging guy's YouTube channel.

Beware of the wood butcher!
Riddikulas!

https://youtube.com/@newhomequalitycontrol?si=aSYw9zK5NE7Mz-hZ

@Twiglets1 yeah I think there is something to stay for staying put. There are definitely buyers as well as sellers behaving badly at the moment. Our estate agent is trying to persuade me that if I don't capitulate to our "good" buyers' every demand and sell NOW then I will be left with a rapidly depreciating asset next year "because we don't know what will happen with the market." There may be some truth in this but equally, selling my home at a fire sale price on terms my (already flaky) buyer wants, and then moving into one of the very unappealing properties on the market with a MUCH bigger mortgage also feels like it could be a big financial mistake too... I am seriously thinking of taking back some power in this situation by telling both the buyer and the agent to eff off.
I wonder if it is going to become more normal to raise families in flats. Judging from replies on this thread I'm sure I am not the only person in this situation who is struggling to upsize at the time of my choosing.
The question now is perhaps how do I, and people like me, make the best of what we have? Maybe I need to start a new thread on that topic (decluttering, tips on using small space effectively etc)

I agree that you should contact estate agents directly. A house around the corner from me just sold and the first we knew of it was when the sold sign went up!

I think it’s common to raise families in flats in expensive cities @Olinguita

I grew up in a 2 bed flat in London myself and shared a bedroom with my sister which was fine.

We are in our starter home 2 bed semi detached (15 years so far 😬) hopefully moving next year to 3 or 4 bed. The jump is eye watering I get what we want. Our house will get about £200k and we are looking at £450k for what we want 🙄 we want a detached, village location, garage and parking for multiple cars. I think ours will sell reasonably quickly, but think the houses we will be looking at won’t want to drop their prices to reflect the current market.

There’s quite a few round here (starter homes) but market seems to be those having to sell rather than people making the choice. What’s your budget and where are you looking?

My first two purchases were flats. Perfect for getting on the ladder and a nice introduction to home ownership. Close to transport, didn't have to spend too much of my spare time or money on maintainence. I had no issues selling. Just choose carefully.

@Olinguita seriously, stay where you are. Convenience and I nice space is so much more important than what the mums think. I have a garden and it’s only really me and the dog that use it unless I drag dc into it. Dc are outdoorsy when we go to the local country parks but would rather be in the living room than the garden. I also thought we’d socialise in the garden but we’ve been here 6 years and not managed to as we arrange a party and it rains so end up all inside.

OP, last night I went through Rightmove's sold, X area pages for about 8 areas we are considering. I counted the first 5 pages, which is 125 properties. Not including new builds, which I specifically looked to weed out because we don't want one, I was taken aback with the number of properties with no photos shown. I am taking no photos to mean they never hit Rightmove. The lowest percentage was 16%, the top 3 were 38, 28 and 28. From my knowledge of these places, it adds up. The 38% place is one where it's almost impossible to buy unless you live local, because houses are selling by word of mouth, and I assume via EA who have waiting lists and don't need to advertise.

I thought I would share that I think it's really worth getting off RM and hitting the streets instead. I think the realistically priced, non problem houses aren't even being advertised.

I hope this ends up helping!

Make sure the EAs know you are not a casual buyer: AIP, conveyancer details, surveyor details, proof of deposit, oh and 'please find me a not crap house.'

"If prices fell to half what they are how would new houses get built?"

With sales down about 50% and mortgage applications down about 40% Im not sure we need to build much more TBH, it is obvious that people were just splashing the debt and moving a lot over the last few years of this property bubble, buying as much house as they could borrow their way into and worrying about the cost later (they thought rates would never go up) I worked in the building trade when you could buy ex-council houses for 15K in some parts of the UK and houses still got built, cant really see civilisation coming to a halt because a load of people borrowed too much, but I agree that the big developers will pause now, and some may even go bust, no loss there are obviously plenty of housing units, maybe they don`t all have a pool and Jacuzzi but people are living somewhere. The Build Build Build, Buy Buy Buy mantra was just a sales pitch to make bankers and developers rich.

It doesnt work like that, staying put just means you are not part of the market, your house still loses value as other similar houses sell for less. I dont like the term "ladder", it used to be a decent description but now it is just a debt ladder more than anything. The less debt the FTB starts with the more protected they are against future interest rate shocks.

A friend's house never hit RM - sold directly at asking price to a couple the EA had contacted directly. If you're a FTB it's so important to have relationships w the local EAs.

@CrashyTime of course it works like that, call it whatever kind of ladder you want, but if people aren't selling for whatever reason there will be less stock including for FTBs. Don't see how that can be disputed.

There might be less for sale but there are less FTB`ers able or willing to buy now so it all evens out.

@CrashyTime wtf you on about? OP is a FTB struggling in this market, I say it's shit for FTBers because there isn't much stock, you say there aren't FTBs? The thread has literally been started by one, that's the point! Are you literally just trying to disagree with me because I've said prices crashing aren't good for FTBers, are you one of those weird blokes on the internet salivating at the thought of a crash?

What areas are you looking in?