How we'll know when house prices hit rock bottom

IveSeenTheLight

Entertainer wrote: »

Last time the bottom was obvious. At the start of 1993 prices stabilised then were fairly static until the end of 95. Houses started to increase in price in 96 (flats took longer to recover as houses were so cheap people were going straight to them.) Auction prices did start to rise first- there was already firming up of prices in 93. Expect auction prices to do the same this time. There was an obvious trigger for the end of the slump, when the pound left the ERM and interest rates were slashed.

Now, there is no obvious light at the end of the tunnel. Interest rates are already very low but the economy is just entering recession.

Things seem to be happening alot quicker this time in the age of IT. For example, we have a President who only entered the Senate in 2004.

Dont get fooled into the UK average trap.
I know some areas that only fell in one year and recovered the next

the_other_mce

Another consideration regarding buying a house is: how much money will you pay in rent over the time you are waiting to buy a house? Where I live there isn't a lot of difference between the rent on a 2 bed semi and a reasonable mortgage on a similar property ..... although this may not apply for the whole of the UK. If you find a house at a good price and have enough of a deposit to get a good rate on your mortgage then now could be the time to buy......