Buying in an “up and coming” area: Crystal Palace?

[phallu]

DP and I are looking to buy somewhere we can make some money on a value increase of the property. We currently live in Clapham and love it. We can afford a 2 bedroom flat here which I would be happy in. I don’t think we’d make any money on it though.

We have heard through the grape vine that buying towards Croydon is going to be a good money maker. We’ve settled on Crystal Palace for the transport links/price of property.

We can get a three bed 1930s semi for £650k! Okay it needs major DIY but there is scope to extend upwards.

The area seems very suburban and the property style doesn’t do it for me. But the thought of having an actual house and that it will probably go up a lot in value…

Do you think it’s likely? Is it worth spending 3-4 years minimum of our lives in an area we don’t love?

You have to like hills. Every other road is called Something Hill.
They are steep 😂

But Crystal Palace is so much cheaper than Dulwich village. Don’t you think it will ever become that desirable? It’s quite similar, or so says my friend who has moved to CP!

have you ever visited these areas??! seriously

dulwich has the schools for the start

Crystal Palace already is very desirable through OP. Most of my friends have been priced out of there & gone on to have families in Norwood. Dulwich Vilage is on a different scale though!

You might get a doer upper in Penge for that but it would be pushing it. Much better transport links from Penge. Is it actually the bit that's more Elmer's End/South Norwood? That's more suburban and agents often push it as 'within easy reach of Crystal Palace' (in reality it's a bus up the hill).

Palace has a whole shop devoted to hanging houseplants and vegan coffee. It's up and come and I think actually gone down the other side as prices seem a bit cheaper now.

LOL at Crystal Palace being up and comming. Mate it's well and truely up and come.

Claphamites! 🙄

People are talking about buying where there may be tube extensions, but I've seen someone comment on here that they didn't really benefit from the extension of the Elizabeth Line - as in house value didn't increase much. (Wonder if that's because lots of people WFH.) Do you know why Morden is so affordable then, since it's got a Northern Line underground station?

Also Dulwich Village is in the realms of fhe very very posh, always has been. Do you mean East or West Dulwich perhaps?

If your budget if £650k you may get a small 60s terrace that needs work in Forest Hill or something a bit roomier in Catford. But if you think Crystal Palace is up and coming Forest Hull and Catford will be a bit of a shock!

I'm no expert at all, but the money is in the difference isn't it, and I would imagine that the prices would need to be low in the first place to benefit because there must be some sort of ceiling. I live along the overground extension and bought before it happened. It took a while for house prices to rise as people moved in, local facilities opened up as there were more people to use them, and then it became a benign circle. House prices wise anyway. But it was a good 5 years before you could see the difference. Somewhere like Woolwich I would expect to have been much quicker and steeper because it was not at all desirable before.

Morden - no idea tbh. Of course I'm only talking about the prices and not the actual niceness of living in the area! I don't think prices going up has made my area nicer, just more expensive (which I'm lucky to have benefited from).

Crystal Palace is a lovely place to live, but it up and came a long time ago. I used to live in Crofton Park which up and came while I lived there. The whole swathe of SE London from Crystal Palace to Sydenham to Forest Hill to Brockley is very much middle class new mum territory. If your benchmark is Dulwich Village for where a place ends up once it's up and come then I think your class radar is out. Dulwich Village has never not been thoroughly posh. It's a different world to the rest of SE London.

Agree with everyone else that’s there’s probably somewhat of a ceiling in terms of property increases esp if an area has already come up. But OP have you seen the market lately? There’s no way you are going to make a significant increase in 3-4 years.

I used to rent in Crystal Palace about 40 years ago until I was in a position to buy. CP was out of my budget but I could afford East Dulwich where I've been very happy. Win some, lose some. Thing is in those days we bought a home not an asset that might bring a return.

So if you don't think you'd be happy in the area, don't move there though I agree with the PP who said you would end up loving it. I often visit CP now and a large part of me wishes I still lived there - apart from the b_dy hills!

I'm biased (because I live in Forest Hill) but I think this area of SE London is much nicer than Clapham anyway. Greener, more interesting, not beholden to the tube.

The hills are epic though!

Crystal Palace commands a premium compared to more immediate areas because of the green space and the transport - really good, frequent rail links and the Overground.

But you have missed the boat if you are hunting for cheap property in these areas - the influx of young Clapham based couples and familes to East Dulwich and surrounding areas was a big talking (moaning/joking) point 10 -15 years ago.

Your friend has either never been to Dulwich Village or meant East Dulwich instead.

The migration of people priced out of Clapham and moving eastwards to East Dulwich, Forest Hill, Honor Oak etc started years ago. The big jumps in property values has already happened.

Indeed - the idea that someone would ever hunt for cheaper property than Clapham in Dulwich Village is laughable! I mean Margaret Thatcher had a house there in the eighties!

I know Crystal Palace quite well. It has changed a lot in the last 20 years. I really like it but am not sure it's going to become much more expensive property wise than any other part of London.

Could be wrong though!

For me I wouldn't want to live somewhere a bit dodgy in the hope it gets better. Can you instead buy the worst property on the best road to improve and add value that way?

My friend bought a flat in CP about twenty years ago and it was ‘up and coming’ then!

What about Beckenham, you can get a house for 650k.

This has to be a joke, surely? Have you been to Dulwich Village proper, and seen the literal mansions? It’s those that push the prices up. East Dulwich, which has similar housing stock to CP, is a similar price.

Clapham is so much cheaper than Knightsbridge OP, you should stay put and cross your fingers.

Another Londoner going WTF that anybody thinks Crystal Palace hasn't upped and come long ago, and that it's ever going to suddenly, magically morph into Dulwich Village. The property stock and schools alone are a huge difference.

The days of massive gentrification gains from buying in the right area are over and done with. There is nowhere in London you're going to realise a massive profit on a timeline of a few years, so buy something you actually want to live in.