How do you arrange your face when the agent tells you as the'buyer' that prices have definitely bottomed out?

[kayspace]

We're going for the polite nod on the basis the same bloke MIGHT be showing us 20 more houses yet so it might be counter productive to lie on the floor, kicking our legs in the air, screaming with laughter.

I was going to say "Where DO they get their ideas from?" but I suppose the real question is "DO you think I'm stupid?"

I admit our local agents have seen a huge upsurge in interest over the last few weeks- but no one's seeing 'interest' translate into 'sales'. Surely THEY can see that what's happening is potential buyers are now having a look around to see how much more 'x' sum NOW buys. Then we sit on our hands watching propertybee to wait for the next fall.

?

Around here, sales have increased.

Wait if you like; that's your perogative.

Of what though? I'm sure repossessed 1st time buyer homes have been snapped up but here in leafy south Hampshire- nada!

Property prices rose in January

who says they have risen though? Agents, the government? It is what the buyer is prepared to pay that counts. And nobody is fighting over properties at the moment.

It is all spin. If you had your house on the market in december, do you really think the agent will give you a ring at the end of january to tell you to put the price up?? I doubt it.

They say it to try to get people moving.

There were 2 incidents of gazumping in the 750k+ market in London in January, heavily reported in the press.

That doesn't mean property prices rose!

I'D understood that on average they'd fallen 10.something % from peak.

FYI my solicitor said he had a substantial increase in new clients last week.

I do not understand you OP you seem to be very smug about something.

sagacious. OP has 2 threads in property atm. I think s/he needs to get out more .

Rightmove house property index said it rose. It was by a tiny percentage (can't be arsed to look it up but I have the press release somewhere).

Naturally the market is not going to 'recover' to it's previous over-inflated state for many years and there will be lots of property that will continue to decrease as there are still vendors in over-extended positions and mortgages are not easy to come by.

But people are still buying houses and so if you see a house you want I wouldn't hang around waiting for a big discount. Just make a decent offer. If the vendor is desperate they will accept, if not you might lose it to someone else who wants it more than you.

Halifax said property prices increased by 1% in Jan. Personally I'm a bit about that, but hey.

As someone who works in propery, I can asure you sales are going though atm - and not just first time buyers. (They are the ones who want to buy, but can't get a mortgage atm).

I'm seeing a lot of people who would rather invest in property than have thier cash sitting in the bank earning them virtually nothing.

What makes you so confident inerest isn't translating into sales Kayspace? It certainly is in our office! (Thank God!!!)

There is bit more activity in the housing market because desperate sellers are finally capitulating and coming down to meet buyers bids.

The one house price index that showed a rise in January was entirely down to a mix change. Almost no flats sold but a few more big houses did as sellers capitulated who had enough equity to be able to afford to move. This pushed up the average sale price because a few more big houses and a lot less flats leads mathematically to an increase in the average.

The future of the market entirely depends on how much unemployment we get, what deposits the banks require from people and and what multiples of salary they are prepared to offer.

House prices go up and down with the availability of fnance and willingness of people to borrow money if it is available. No one will borrow who fears losing their job and banks wil want a lot more security if they think people are potentially going to lose their job.

All indicators are pointing firmly down at the moment. Banks and potential borrowers are becoming ever more cautious by the day. Even if a bank is willing to lend and a borrower is willing to borrow there ia big interest premium hitting anybody who has not got at least 25% equity. For this reason, lower interest rates have ceased to have any influence on house purchasing decisions

Eg
www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article4352.html

sorry, this keyboard can't do links.

Incidentally- is there a policy against having OOh! TWO posts in a topic?

And surely the fact YOU'RE sitting in at YOUR computer ANSWERING my OPs somewhat negates any mudslinging in my direction about 'getting out more'..

Thing is, one has to look at the statistics of non-interested parties, not those on sites hosted by the property business.

www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article8080.html

www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article4352.html

Links The simplest way to insert a link is to enter the link itself, surrounded by and . So if you type www.mumsnet.com, the link will display as www.mumsnet.com. If you want your link to display text other than the web address itself, leave a space after the address then add the text before the ]]. So "Look at this page", would display "Look at this page

LOL @ your keyboard not doing links!

www.housepricecrash.co.uk/#statistics

I really can't help you any more than I have.

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/feb/17/house-prices-official-government

OK, I am laying it on a bit. But I actually feel agents who are trying to convince vendors in particular and buyers (who as always have to beware) that prices are RISING are being what MIGHT be described as dishonest.

MrsStig, many thanks, but my computer doesn't have square brackets or the pounds sterling sign! Seriously it can't do links because mumsnet can't recognise the symbols I do have on my keyboard (being 'of foreign provenance' and all)!!

ROFL @ at the very thought that agents are trying to convince vendors prices are rising.

And Betadad- yes indeed. Well put.

MrsStig- yes, that the problem- NOT ROFL!

that marketoracle link was published in April 2008 kayspace!