The real question is why house prices aren't falling faster?

Cannon_Fodder

That's the trouble with stats, a couple of "bad" months in the 4th and 6th years, could have skewed the total length of crash longer than remembered...

I think most of the crash was in the first two years, followed by some temporary ups and interim downs, but that's from memory.

but of course, areas/regoins varied, and personal experiences would mould the importance of particular years to become that person's own worst...so we all have a different feeling about it.

my reaction was, "only 22%?", over so many years it doesn't seem that bad...and was the 11% valid?

SouthCoast

Where I am (South East) there are huge amounts of all sorts of properties on the market.

I know of four properties that have been purchased in the last 2 months. They were realistically priced and have gone to cash buyers.

P.S,

#1 Downsizing to a cheaper area to clear debts.
#2 Divorce settlement.
#3 STR'd and didn't like the LL.
#4 Moved area.

WTF?_2

pickledpink wrote: »

I think it's actually going to get HARDER for FTB's to get on the ladder. And if they do they'll be limited as to what they can buy.

By definition it's harder if you have to save a 10% deposit vs not having to save a deposit at all. But that hardly spells disaster - anyone without the financial ability to save a deposit really shouldn't be taking on an expensive mortgage.

And FTBs will have to buy FTB-type properties (2 ups/2 downs, terraces). Just like they were doing before - only borrowing a lot less to do so. Oh the horror!

Chris2685

!!!!!!? - Me and my girlfriend have saved over £25,000 now over the past 4 years we have been saving up to get a house. We still can't afford to actually get a mortgage for anything better than a 1 bed apartment in a crappy area of Slough (maximum mortgage we can obtain is 110,000, and I am earning more than the national average) , so maybe you ought to try being in this position rather than passing comments such as that?

Jumping_Bean

Chris2685 wrote: »

!!!!!!? - Me and my girlfriend have saved over £25,000 now over the past 4 years we have been saving up to get a house. We still can't afford to actually get a mortgage for anything better than a 1 bed apartment in a crappy area of Slough (maximum mortgage we can obtain is 110,000, and I am earning more than the national average) , so maybe you ought to try being in this position rather than passing comments such as that?

Just wait a bit longer then you'll be able to afford to buy. You may not want to hear it but not being able to buy has probably done you a favor in the long run and means you'll be able to buy at a lower price later on.

Chris2685

It is possible... However, with this HomeBuy scheme we can afford to buy a 3 bedroom house for 210K for around £800 per month, no way I could rent a similar property for that... If this does fall through, I may look at renting instead though.

WTF?_2

Chris2685 wrote: »

!!!!!!? - Me and my girlfriend have saved over £25,000 now over the past 4 years we have been saving up to get a house. We still can't afford to actually get a mortgage for anything better than a 1 bed apartment in a crappy area of Slough (maximum mortgage we can obtain is 110,000, and I am earning more than the national average) , so maybe you ought to try being in this position rather than passing comments such as that?

As jumping bean says, just hang on. Prices will take some time to bottom out.

If 25k is not enough to make a 10% deposit on a 1-bed flat, then do you really want to be borrowing a massive £225k just for a basic foot-on-the-ladder place?

Clearly those prices are insane and unsustainable. Give it 12-18 months and that 25k saved will make a very good deposit indeed. Just keep on saving as every pound less borrowed is more than two pounds less to repay and more than three pounds less of your gross income gone.

And at the very worst, unlike many people up to their necks in debts you have a 25k financial safety net should your circumstances change.

Incisor

Chris2685 wrote: »

It is possible... However, with this HomeBuy scheme we can afford to buy a 3 bedroom house for 210K for around £800 per month, no way I could rent a similar property for that... If this does fall through, I may look at renting instead though.

You pays half the price of the property to bear ALL the losses on a property which is already heavily overvalued at twice what you could afford to buy under your own steam. This is not salvation for you, it is madness. You will do far better to rent in the short to med term and buy the whole of a humble terrace later. Provided you keep saving, you will come to the top of the pile to be able to buy.

And if everyone in your position stuck 2 fingers up at the shared ownership schemes, it would be those promoting the schemes who would be nursing burnt fingers shortly, rather than the buyers suffering a total meltdown in their equity over the next 3 to 5 years. Destroying the marketability of shared ownership ASAP is, believe me, in the very best interests of everyone in your position. Beware of Developers bearing gifts.

alared

The reason house prices haven`t fallen at a faster rate YET is there has not been mass redundancies YET.

A report out today said unemployment could well top two million,then you`ll see house prices fall.

The other thing on the agenda is your BTLetters,they don`t really believe that things will get a whole lot worse.
But when they finally wake up, they`ll be a glut of properties on the market causing even more falls in prices.

It happened in the early nineties

---

it`ll happen again.
What amazes me is that people thought that prices could only keep on going up.

obsessed_saver

Jumping_Bean wrote: »

If first time buyers can't buy then the market comes to a halt which is what's happening now. First time buyers are what feeds the market without them everything stops.

If first time buyers can't get a mortgage then the market will not pick up and prices will continue to fall until they can. The relatively few cash buyers won't have any effect on this.

Well, that's where the BTL brigade came into play to fill in the gap. In my opinion, FTBs were realistically priced out by 2005. BTL came in and plugged the hole and caused an unsustainable bubble.