Is the market really on a downturn!?

[PoppyP19]

I keep hearing that the market is on a downturn and everyone should be cautious about the property they are purchasing at the moment but I’m struggling to find anything!

Properties in the area I am looking at are snapped up within days. I am viewing a property on the weekend which was booked 3 weeks ago, EA too busy to give us a viewing before now!

What is everyone else’s experience?

We have struggled so much trying to find something that we haven’t put our house on the market yet. Our neighbours sold at first viewing and my cousin has sold their house but still not found a property to move into so all seems a bit of a mess!

I just started a similar thread as I was quite shocked to see some recent prices & how much expensive supply there was.

I monitor a large area, the Fylde Coast. Most houses coming on are nearly new build, so not near amenities, or need at least £100k spending on them. 40 year old bathrooms, 25 year old kitchens, electrics needing an overhaul, and for some reason a lot of brown upvc windows, and brown skirting, doors etc. Anything reasonably priced goes in a shot.

It varies a lot depending on area and condition of the property.

Good properties in desirable areas continue to sell well in most areas it seems but it's harder to shift properties with issues or those in undesirable locations in a stagnant market. There was a time when almost anything would get snapped up but that time has passed.

Prices on the rise near me. Anything that comes on sub £750k is sold with a week or two of being in the market.South west

That's not true of the SW generally. Pick any nice town with a decent amount of property then you'll find lots of stock on RM that was listed more than 2 weeks ago. Use Topsham as an example. Of the 22 properties less than £700K listed in the last 14 days, none are marked as SSTC or Under Offer.

That's definitely my experience too. I keep an eye on a number of areas in the SW and SE and SW seems to be particularly badly affected, even very popular areas, as you say.

Can you give us a clue roughly where this area in the SW is that you are properties sold within 1-2 weeks? I was seeing this in 2021, certainly but now masses of reductions. I'm surprised that you seeing the opposite.

This article explores the hottest and coldest property markets in the UK at the moment.

Bristol seems hot with popular suburbs taking an average of 25-30 days to sell. The property market in Scotland is also hot (average 33 days to sell).

At the other end of the spectrum, according to Rightmove Nine out of the ten slowest markets to find a buyer outside of London are coastal towns. This is a reversal of what happened during the pandemic when people rushed to relocate to more rural areas. London itself is very mixed with properties in Walthamstow for example taking an average of 32 days, Stoke Newington taking 40 days whereas more exclusive central locations like Knightsbridge and Chelsea are taking longer to find buyers,

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-13915925/Hottest-coldest-property-markets-mapped-one-pocket-South-West-sees-homes-shift-just-25-days.html

We have looked at a few places in the north/east midlands and the market there seems very very stagnant, not much coming on and not much selling. Most places are on for ages and though many may have people who are interested, those people in turn can’t sell their own homes. We are chain free and the agents have been incredibly helpful to us because we are proceedable.

Houses around us aren’t even making it online anymore. They’re all going off market.

Looking at my area (midlands) I would say the market peaked about mid 2022.

Some people are marketing at mid 2022+10% but none of these seem to be selling. You have to price at around 2022 or lower prices in order to sell.

I certainly wouldn't say the market is plummeting, but it just feels very sluggish.
As ever a stand out price will sell.

My observations are similar to @GasPanic and have been since late 2022.
There is a lot of very ambitious pricing but none of these houses have been selling for 2-3 years.
Overall, there seems to be a lot coming to market (quite a few that were removed from the market last Autumn/Winter and new ones too) and a lot of reductions.
I spoke to someone who has worked at one of the local estate agents recently and she said that business is bad. This agent deals with the top end of the market, which is definitely the slowest moving segment, and massively over prices so has been selling very little for 2-3 years. Surprisingly, he still doesn't seem to have realised that he needs to price realistically in order to make some money.
It will be interesting to see how things change over the next year or so as we see an obvious economic downturn and volatility/ likely big reductions in stock prices.

It will be very interesting! I’m not allowing it so change my plans in any way. The way I see it, there will always be peaks and troughs in the economy. Property investment is a long term game in my eyes.

There were a great deal of people (I imagine Londoners) rushing to snap up properties in my area during lockdown. I have noticed loads of houses on the market in the last 2 weeks which seems to coincide with the increase in second home tax. It all seems a bit of a mess but remaining hopeful that we can finally find something to purchase this summer!

@PoppyP19 , I agree that you need to carry on with life and do what best suits you at the time. Holding back for years to try to time the market is not very likely to be a good strategy. However, I would try not to see property as a good investment in a financial sense now, but as an investment in a family home. I think that what is starting to play out now in terms of the economy is rather different to what has come before. Good luck with finding a home that works for you at a good price.

I work for a surveyor and I would say it’s notably quiet this year compared to others - usually around Easter time it ramps up considerably.

There was a flurry of activity a month or two ago before the stamp duty deadline - so maybe that has thrown things out of their usual schedule - I would hope it would pick up in the next month or so, but it’s a tough one to call.

My DM's home has been on the market for six months. Had one reduction from 375k to 349k. It seems similarly priced to other comparable properties in her area.

She's had two viewings in the six months.

We're SE (Coastal).

I don't understand why it's not even getting more viewings.

There's never been a downturn in the area I live in and we've been here 22 years.

market is quick where I am looking, but slow as treacle round near my parents. It’s frustrating as there are some comparative bargains to be had round there which my mum keeps sending me.

Are the comparable properties selling? If so, your DM's home probably isn't really comparable in some way and is still very overpriced (I say very because she would have had steady viewings if buyers thought they might negotiate on the price up to 10% or so). If not, they are all over priced. There are so many properties in this situation since late 2022, where the seller/ agent has really over estimated the asking price, leading to little interest and no sale.

Zone 2 SE London. We’ve had an offer accepted on a house and my surveyor (used him before) is busy until the end of May! He said he would recommend someone else he knows but he’s also busy until the end of May.

I wish the market would slow down here.

My son is looking to buy in Cardiff. Anything FTB is selling straight away. We've found something but surveyors are booked up for weeks - I'm being offered dates in mid May,!

Things still slow in my part of S London, we are getting more and more estate agents letters through the door

www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/house-prices/why-the-london-property-boom-is-well-and-truly-over/

this certainly rings true imo, affordability does matter.

I can’t read that unfortunately. What is happening in my area is that people are coming from SW London and east London where property is already more expensive and buying bigger houses here. A 3 bed Victorian terrace is now going for £1.2m. A 3 storey Victorian house is now going for £1.7m. The area is changing and we are being priced out in the space of a couple of months. It’s properly insane.

@kirinm after you click on the article quickly put your phone in airplane mode. Works on most subscription articles.

That must be a very small hotspot as I know people in SE London that are finding it slow &/or reducing. A big issue with London is that if you bought a flat post Brexit it's unlikely you have made any or much money on it so it's even harder to move up to ladder. I know loads of people who have moved from my area but they have either left London or moved to outer SW zones. Secondary schools are a big driver and many are now priced out of private.