Have house prices dropped?!!

MrsPitcher2b

Last week, we went to see a 2 bed flat which has been up for sale since oct 2008.

It was up for sale for Offers greater than 130k. we offered 120, and was told by the agent 'You do realsie they want offers in excess of 130'... So i said yeh but we arent willing to go higher than 130.

So then he comes back to me and says 'nope they are looking for around the 150-155k mark. Bearing in mind we can buy a 3 bed house in the same area for 170k (Which is alot bigger!) I said i wasnt willing to stretch myself for a flat when i could get a 3 bed flat at a strech.

They bought the flast 3 years ago for 145k, so i can see why they dont really want to lose money, but do they not realise prices have come down!!

Or have prices come down!!! I cant seem to find anything other than run down repossesitoons which you wouldnt get amortgage on because it has no kitchen/bathroom...

Grr, i hope it starts dropping a bit more soon!! We can afford some places, but they are places that wont ever really go back up, and will continue to drop because of the terrible area!!

Cannon_Fodder

If they genuinely want and expect to get around £150K, then they are mad to put in on for £130K, even when saying offers over. No-one is EVER going to volunteer £20K (15%) more than the asking.

The EA is testing you, hoping you come back with a split the difference offer, say around £135K - the vendor is then happy at getting an offer that is over, the EA boosts his commission, and you think you've bagged a bargain, if you believe their £150k target.

Its all a game.

No other similar flats to compare prices with?

If there are no other properties at that price, it suggests they are the bottom of the "reasonable" versions of that type of property - perhaps hoping to attract multiple viewings and create a bit of buzz to help the offers go over...but just by a few grand not £20K.

domcastro

Don't back down - 120 to 130 is a fair price if it was 145 3 years ago (it would be less than that now). Wait a while.

GDB2222

I won't comment on your flat - after all, I don't have enough info to do so really. On a general point, there are lots of people complaining at the moment that they can't get anything at sensible prices. There are a lot of sellers simply not reducing prices.Bear in mind that the last down-cycle took 7 years until prices started to pick up. We are say 18 months through this one, so don't panic.

repossesitoons

I like this, as it's half-way between a repossession and a spitoon. Was that intentional?

baby_boomer

In the minds of a significant minority of homeowners, house prices haven't yet dropped :rotfl:

Give them time. Time is on your side.

mrcow

Prices round here (North Kent, about 25 miles from Central London) are coming down - on really nicely located quality accomodation.

There is a house round the corner that has been dropped by £50k in the last month or so.

Our old house (last sold 2002) is also on the market and has just been dropped by £5000 in the last 2 weeks. There's nothing wrong with it, there is just hardly no market at the moment. It's going to drop more.

Soot2006

They probably have 130K mortgage ... They should cut their losses & accept your offer!

QTPie

baby_boomer wrote: »

In the minds of a significant minority of homeowners, house prices haven't yet dropped :rotfl:

Give them time. Time is on your side.

This is what we are finding...

We had our house on the market for less than an identical one sold for a about 3 months before. We accepted an offer 10% below the asking price. Got gazundered by the buyers (just before valuation/exchange) who wanted another 10% reduction on that. Sale fell through (we didn't agree to the reduction demand). That reduction would have taken the value of our house down to "2004 prices".

The problem we have is that the houses we are looking at (large family houses) are all still demanding "late 2007 and then some" prices! To them, there have been no house price decreases! How can we afford to sell in a market that we cannot remotely buy in? The prices should and could drop, but most vendors are actually sticking to the ridiculous prices or completely removing their properties from the market (because they are at the top of the chain, they figure they might was well hand on for 5/7 years)...

Too much market disparity at the moment...

QT

torontoboy45

accept much of the above advice and leave well alone FTM.

loath as I am to agree with mr. wilson: rent a flat and buy a house (if you're not desparate).

prowla

2004 prices were way too high - they have to drop further.

scousethife

What area?

We can check it on propertybee