really depressing article in the sunday times -- despite curent market conditions there are still 22 people looking for every 1 biggish country house coming to the market

[Tutter]

they featured a family wanting to move HERE - exactly where we're looking

they have given up

I used to have a mate that was FOREVER moaning about her lot and always saying "Oh its alright for you....blah blah blah". Well actually no - it wasnt alright for me. I worked bloody hard for what i had and struggled on a daily basis and took chances that in the end didnt pan out - she on the other hand just 9-5'd it with naff all responsibility and claimed it was easy for me.

what has that got to do with Tutter's country house?

agreed - some stability would be good - housing crash - awful.

I am feeling the beginnings of it because you cannot get decent rented for love nor money - all being snapped up by those that have sold or lost their homes.

Good time for buy to let I think.

the market has slowed down in Cambridge and houses are becoming more difficult to sell. However the market generally is buoyed by ftb and the sale of smaller/cheaper houses than those in the millions.

The majority of people who buy these type of houeses in this area are what we refer to as 'townies' as Cambridge is in easy communting distance of London

Okay, but how does this relate to lack of £2M homes in Cambridgeshire?

Maybe folks are just hanging onto them because they're afraid of a crash?

I hope there isn't one, because they generally mean the R word : recession.

Because its all relative.

What is a nightmare for her may mean nothing to you and what is a nightmare for, say, Bill gates is nothing for Tutter.

Yet what is a nightmare for you might be a dream for someone living in a shitty council flat surrounded by drug dealers....

there are plenty of others places besides Cambridgeshire.

Why is it depressing?

A housing crash of 30% would still not enable most 'average' couples to buy a house without being mortgaged to the eyeballs and having no life.House for sale opposite me 3 beds one is a box room smallish kitchen needs refurb new windows etc Patio no garden but near a good school 425k!!!!!Even at 30% drop that would be 300k and need a joint salary of 100k to buy.the average salary in Brighton is 22k.So a crash for some would be great

Be of good cheer: the holiday schedule for television is finally OVER.

really, why would anyone want a crash, dreaful for the economy and a lot of families , normal families (not superrich people) flung into the hell trap that is negative equity

exactly, DR! that was my point as well, a few posts down.

crashes are BAD. they're part of recessions and affect everyone.

We should all be hoping that things just stabilise out
it won't just be one group of society affected
(althought admittedly i felt the trauma that looking for a 2mill house and not finding one, was probably stretching the definition of trauma)

That article makes me feel like Citizen Smith. I am scribbling "Alistair and Olivia Markham" and "Tom and Sarah Ainsley-Jones" down in my little book to be first against the wall. Really, my heart absolutely bleeds for the poor darlings.

agree in general about crashes expat, but the so-called 'boom' we have had was made of fantasy City money and stretching lending criteria to the max so that the City fantasists could take more of the pie, and that has helped no one either. If we are really lucky the 'crash' will just be a much needed correction. But I am not an economist and am very probably talking out of my behind!

There will always be wealthy people looking for property. Property in Kensington and Chelsea appreciated by 28 per cent in 2007 and it won't be much less this year, I'd wager. that level of finance works on a different scale than the rest of us.
Some people are wishing for a crash because they sold and moved into 'rented accommodation' banking on a crash in order to get more for their money, so for selfish reasons they want the rest of the countries finances to be shot

But in a way this article does hint at a crash. There are a lot fewer good properties on the market because there is less chance of selling them (one of the case studies reckons she's seen 70 houses and none of them have come up to scratch) and the people who were looking in Henley for six months still had their expensive house in London on the market during that time, presumably without any offers on it.

I'm not sure wanting a crash is selfish - but when decent housing becomes the privilege of the few, something has to give. I'm also deeply suspicious, and I write as a hack, of these articles that maintain all is well at a level that few normal people can be expected to know much about - it makes it very hard for readers and even journalists to judge.

So if they were buying a house for £200k and kept being priced out of the market would they be subject to the same derision?

At the end of the day they are still families, and yes they ay have a larger budget than most folk, who cannot find a house to buy and are living in rented accom.

so what point would you NOT put them up against the wall?

£100k? £250k? £500k?

Really....when is it just being arrogant and worthy of scorn?

they can find a house to buy at that price, marmaduke, just not in that area.

or, conversely, it may just be a matter of waiting it out.

it must be noted, however, that there is a difference between that scenario and not being able to buy a home at all.

i think wishing for crashes is not very wise because when it crashes, it's all around - EVERY level is affected.

10x salary is not sustainable so a levelling out is pointless and really not going to happen.

Agree with Noddyholder, 10x salary isn't sustainable and sorry, I can't feel too sorry for people with £2m to spend who are chasing every house in their price bracket.

I think there will be an enormous crash.

Exactly, Expat. People who look at SEVENTY houses and can't bring themselves to buy any one of them are behaving very oddly. They have a place to live, I am sure it's more than comfortable. I'm saving my housing pity for people in hostels with damp dripping down the walls.

Well I sypathise Tutter. We are going to be homeless in a matter of weeks because we can't find anything. There are very few nice country houses on the market around here. Unless you like spending £800k on a house next to a garage or near to a large estate notorious for gun crime.

Unfortunately for us most of the people who own such houses seem to be older retired couples who don't HAVE to move and they seem to be deciding not to bother putting property on the market because of the predicted price drop.

Its not good. Am getting very stressed.