The property market has gone mad! Mad I tell you!

[IlanaK]

We are stiiiiillllll looking for somewhere to buy. There has been nothing new on the market for two months now. A flat came on the market this week - viewings today. We went, as did 19 other couples! We put an offer in and were told they would wait until Monday to get "all offers in". So basically, as soon as anything good comes on the market, we will be competing against loads of other people, everything will go for over the asking price and we will never be able to buy anywhere.

Soooooo fed up of all this!

just below £600k.......oh I wish
we can just about stretch to £400k and even that would be too much really. Our house only worth £250k
just going to have to face the care home option I think.

We have been in same situation for a long while. We sold our house in London in 2008, lived in Warwickshire for a year or so then moved to Cambridge. We are still renting. We have been outbid on several houses and we ended from the pan into the fire here as properties go for crazy prices because of low supply (one house was bought very recently for 350, very little done to it and now selling for 500K, just because there are very few houses for sale in that street. Totally insane).

We went to an open house and the asking price was considerably higher than a similar but better property we lost last year. So we made a fair offer as we can complete quickly and easily and were told there were offers over the asking price. The property is empty and in bad condition. Some people must be desperate to throw caution to the wind.

We are staying put as my partner reckons that after the elections things will change for the worse. I am a bit worried.

Some people are wising up though but for other reasons. We are going to see a house in an area that used to be unaffordable. We were wondering why then found out that there is a huge and very dense development in the pipeline that will spoil the lovely views. It is frankly depressing.

I spent another fruitless morning on the phone to agents. Most said the same thing - no properties and lots of people waiting for them. I really have no idea what to do. We can't stay where we are for ever (not unless we all want to go insane!). Most of our stuff is in storage and the kids are missing it, not to mention the cost.

One thing came on the market today that would be ok for us, but it was 75,000 over our top top budget! And it is not even that special!

If I were in London, I'd change area, plenty of bargains to be had (DP still follows the areas where we owned houses in the past) in some areas. I'm just glad we sold then as we'd be stuck as prices have crashed there.

I don't have a lot of flexibility here, it's other city or village and the villages are not much cheaper anyway, not for good family homes.