I'm experiencing higher volumes now

whathavewedone

Well it's nice to hear some good news for a change. If lenders are tentatively starting to lend again then maybe we might get through the worst of this by the end of the year.

Conrad

To qualify my statement, I do not think the volume increase for me has anything what so ever to do with lenders relaxing criteria, which, they certainly have not

All I can suggest is it's perhaps the much fabled pent up demand poking a toe in the icy water.

carolt

So are the big multiples eg 5X etc still available, or have they gone the way of big LTV's ie 100% mortgages, which we all know have gone?

Davesnave

I've sold, after more than a year of total hassle, so of course everything will be fine now. Credit Crunch? Pfft!

Sorry everyone! I'll try not to do it again for a very long time.....

PS. Better get in there fast if you're a buyer. I shall be looking again in a few months, so prices will be on the up, big time. Don't say I didn't warn you!

repoamuse

Davesnave wrote: »

PS. Better get in there fast if you're a buyer. I shall be looking again in a few months, so prices will be on the up, big time. Don't say I didn't warn you!

prices will not be on the way up for at least 5 years imho. It could be 10 years before we see 3 consecutive monthly price rises. (unless the figures get cooked, like the inflation figures)

People have lost far to much trust... Houses will sell, and people will buy. The difference is, people wont be buying, selling or moving out of choice.

To early yet to even think about the next bubble when we have not yet witnesses the devastation caused by the last.

fimonkey

Agree! plus anecdotally FTB's have locked away their deposits in fixed interest rate savings accounts with withdrawal penalties, usually for a minimum of 1 year.

Whilst financially it may make sense to take the penalty if the price is right, emotionally those who have done this see their money as 'locked away' until the end of the fixed period, and would only therefore withdraw it if they thought they were gonna 'miss the boat' again, i.e prices suddenly start to rise and rise pretty quickly.

Not gonna happen IMO, so the deposits remain locked away, and the FTB's continue to watch and wait.

Thrugelmir

Conrad wrote: »

It may be just a dead rat bounce, but the new year has bought noticably more buyers out of the wood work, compared with the volumes I've had for some time.

Business has resulted from some of these already.

I'm considerably busier in terms of house purchase mortgages than in Jan 08.
This couold be down to having less competition as the broker community has shrunk, I'm not sure.

So as somebody on the ground. Is the uplift due to remortaging, FTB, or new business ?

I guess you no longer have to compete with the B&B, Northern Rock or Alliance & Leicester. So you'll be expanding rapidly in the coming months ........:rolleyes:

mbga9pgf

Good. We need volume to lower prices further. Lots of 10-20% below offers = much lower prices more quickly.

Darth_Marty

I think a lot of people forget that in 7-10 years the people who got burned in this crash will be superceded by the next generation of buyers and as such things will be pretty much the same as now. Its all cyclical and in my opinion House prices will always (for the foreseeable future anyway) rise, and quite sharply too, peoples greed always shows through and with population figures going through the roof we will always have a need for housing.

Supply and demand remember.

scousethife

So you have sold one then?