Houses gone DOWN in price after five years - is this normal?

[ardeng]

We've seen a house that we like and want to make an offer on it. But to my surprise I see that a couple of houses on the street have gone down in value. I've never seen this before in all the areas I've been looking. Would you go for a house here, or is there a reason you could think of for this? I've included a picture with the values.

We're in Surrey and smaller houses have barely risen in 10 years. In fact, if you account for inflation, some have gone down.

Oh is it because it's a small house? We are downsizing (empty nest), but this is shit.

The market has slowed down a lot. It was absolutely mental just after COVID and prices shot up, but have stabilised and come down now.

House prices are falling.

Don’t think its unusual at all. Prices are going back to pre covid levels, which is absolutely the right thing to happen.

Yes. House prices can go down as well as up.

New builds? They usually go down because people want a new one and developers offer incentives.

I would only buy a house if I was intending to live there for a long while, whether the price was going up or down wouldn't be important if it was the house I wanted in the place I wanted. I would check local planning, local road changes any local airport developments and other things that might totally change the area. But by the time I was thinking of selling again the only thing that matters would be the relative price of what I was selling and what I wanted to buy, which you really can't predict.

I own a flat that is now worth 50% less than when I bought it 15 years ago (there’s nothing wrong with it!) so it does happen.

Gosh how? Is it to do with cladding? Fire risk?

The last sales of these were during covid though, when prices were at a peak. That's why I don't understand. Not a new build, 90s development.

Sometimes houses increase in value and sometimes they decrease in value.

Potentially type of property, if these are small terrace houses then a lot are on the rental market. Landlords will often take lower offers to get shut. Other option is people desperately needed more space for a growing family so sold cheap to move quickly.

It's a necessary and overdue correction to the market.

Accounting for inflation a lot will have gone down. Expensive ones I have seen stagnant and some reductions.

Why are you worried that the houses you are interested in buying have gone down in price? Surely this is good news?

Have you looked at Rightmove sold house prices for your area. That should give you an indication of what people are actually paying. There are some sky high prices. I think the biggest thing is that 10 years ago a ‘doer upper’ was fair game as you could make it your own quite easily, but now it will cost twice that. So a nice house to your taste will retain value but a house that needs a lot of work will cost a fortune and not be worth it (for some people who were thinking of extending etc) I think the days of going in 10-15% under and haggling quite a lot are back.

I am wondering that, unless the same percentage drop on the OP's house would put it at less than she wants to get for it.

You're complaining because something you want to buy has got cheaper?

I'm not complaining about the price of the house I'm buying. To break it down.

1. I'm interested in buying a house and am happy with the price.
2. I looked at other properties on the street and what they've sold for in the past.
3. Some of these properties have in the past sold for less than the owners have bought it (attached pic in OP) . These properties are not for sale now. But if someone's bought it at some price, then five years later they've sold it for less than that price.
4. I'm worried that should we buy a house in this street it will lose value rather than retain it (or increase) in case we want to sell at some point.

And the question is, should I be worried about this (as a house is an asset that normally doesn't lose value) or is this normal?

Thank you to those who've shared experiences and thoughts.

Am I missing something? It it last sold during a peak, it would have sold for a high price and the prices have since dropped, so it would be cheaper now...

Friends bought a house had been on the market a long time they got nearly 40% off. The bungalow behind us was on the market for ages. Asking £385k eventually reduced to £335k. Stuck for another couple of months before selling.

Lots of reductions here some people have taken theirs off the market after refusing crazy low offers.

See post above yours. It didn't sell for a high price during covid, my point is it sold for a LOW price then.

Interesting. I think there's something in this.

In that case perhaps you need to find out why it sold at a lower price then. It may not mean anything wrong with the house, could have been that the previous owners were desperate to sell for some personal reason, or perhaps they were related to the buyers and gave them a lower price, or perhaps there was a dispute with the neighbours which made it harder to well. Perhaps the agent could help you find out.
I think you're right to recognise that houses can lose value as well as gain, especially when the economy is unstable as it is now. But most likely if you sell and buy another property, that will have gone down in price too.