Are house prices really going down?

carolt

Pretty sure I read 34 recently - within the last year?

Or maybe that was just London?

Anyone?

IveSeenTheLight

carolt wrote: »

Pretty sure I read 34 recently - within the last year?

Or maybe that was just London?

Anyone?

Look up the stats yourself.
I even posted the direct link to FTB mortgages

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/filegrab/2ML2.xls?ref=4624

penguine

Where I'm from (the US) I don't know anyone who bought an apartment as a FTB. My parents, my parents' friends, my own friends, only purchased when they had a family and then it was a house. I think this is now changing, as condos which became popular in the 80s and 90s are more like flats are here, but really it makes more sense to me not to buy a flat unless you really have to, because they are rarely suitable as a long-term home. (Speaking as someone who's lived in one for 10 years!)

dopester

disney_cjd wrote: »

Then thats not all. Areas matter. For example in Sevenoaks where I am our little house we are trying to sell we will be lucky to get 275 for. The last one sold idenitcal to ours sold in June for 317. But if we want to buy something bigger the prices have not fallen. We are watching this closely, one example (out of our budget) but a lovely house sold for 760k in April. Last week the house next door went up for 780k so thats an increase for a smaller house.

Some people do not want to accept that thier property has fallen.

From The Times
March 17, 2009

Recession-hit Britain: In Sevenoaks only Oxfam is buzzing

In happier times the wealthy town of Sevenoaks, ringed by the wooded hills of west Kent, would be the last place one would expect to hear a tale as wretched as Suzanne Brereton's.

For 17 years Mrs Brereton, 53, a divorc!e with two teenage children, commuted to the City. She worked as PA to the senior executive vice-president of the Bank of New York, earning about £55,000 a year, with share options, private medical insurance and other perks. She lived high on the hog, believing her job was rock-solid.

She bought a three-bedroom house in a quiet street near Sevenoaks station, remortgaging several times for extra spending money. She took holidays in the Caribbean and Costa Rica, treated herself to a new Land Rover Freelander on the never-never and spoilt her son and daughter to compensate for her long working hours. “I had a good salary and was able to pay everything back,” she said.

Then calamity struck. Last year her boss was recalled to New York and Mrs Brereton was made redundant. She thought she would find another position easily but as the months passed, her fears grew. She has applied for hundreds of PA jobs but cannot remember the last time she received so much as an acknowledgement. She has signed up with half a dozen recruitment agencies but never hears from them. Increasingly desperate, she has sought employment at her local Tesco and Sainsbury's and would even take work as a cleaner if she could find it.

Today Mrs Brereton, a naval officer's daughter educated at boarding school, survives on unemployment benefit and her paltry pension pot and is deeply in debt. She faces imminent repossession because she cannot support her £235,000 mortgage. She has dropped the price of her house from £350,000 to £289,000 but cannot sell it. Even if she did, the proceeds would go to her creditors, and she has no idea where she would live.

Full article continues here...

pawpurrs

Thats a cheerfull little number, sigh.........

rent_and_buy

By me house prices havent really fell at all, we are just waiting now for the right property to come up, and we are going to rent our current property out, a friend of ours told us about a house that went up for sale yesterday, they were going to put it on the market 2 years ago and it was valued at 225,000, anyway the estate agent valued it the other week at 192000, but they have put it on at 225,000:eek:.

I have also seen the reduction in properties for sale, it seems that a lot of people will wait, and are obvously not in a position, that they have to sell.

We are just getting our house ready to rent it out, but are in no rush really, has the house prices have not came down enough for us to buy.

mitchaa

rent_and_buy wrote: »

By me house prices havent really fell at all, we are just waiting now for the right property to come up, and we are going to rent our current property out, a friend of ours told us about a house that went up for sale yesterday, they were going to put it on the market 2 years ago and it was valued at 225,000, anyway the estate agent valued it the other week at 192000, but they have put it on at 225,000:eek:.

There is nothing wrong with the above in my eyes as they know buyers will bid down so if the house is worth £192k, this is what they should be expecting to achieve

If they put it on for £192k it is very very unlikely that they will sell at the full £192k hence the price of £225k. Sellers should not be footing the bill for potential further drops in the housing market, that is for the buyers to deal with.

rent_and_buy

mitchaa wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with the above in my eyes as they know buyers will bid down so if the house is worth £192k, this is what they should be expecting to achieve

If they put it on for £192k it is very very unlikely that they will sell at the full £192k hence the price of £225k. Sellers should not be footing the bill for potential further drops in the housing market, that is for the buyers to deal with.

yeah but the price puts a lot of people off, i seen a house similar for 108,000 pounds 2 miles up the road, but the area is not has good, but theres no way someone will even entertain a viewing at that price.

dopester

rent_and_buy wrote: »

By me house prices havent really fell at all, we are just waiting now for the right property to come up, and we are going to rent our current property out.

What is your general area then petal?

From what you go on to say, it seems you mean asking prices haven't changed, as you can see the EA thinks your friend's place should be on at a lower price.

And also, you don't think there are many others in similar situations to Mrs Brereton in your area?

Their reductions, in their urgent need to sell or have a worse fate, set the real market - together with those not in financial difficulty who don't mind reducing in line with other property falls, so they can trade up.

rent_and_buy

postcodes b46