what happens to price of building materials?

RDB

I have almost got permission to build an extension.

I am in no hurry though.

I live near a very large builders merchant, a friends actually works there has done for decades.

He said he has NEVER seen a time as quiet as this, ever. Some days they dont get any builders buying anything. I asked why not and he said they are all out of work.

There is no point anyone building a house or an extention at the moment, the price is falling so rapidly.

All the places selling any building materials are going to go out of business soon. Only the ones who are able to lower the prices a huge amount will be left afloat.

Mary_Hartnell

We have not had the B&Q 50% off weekends yet this time round.

Good time to check out the places that got too big for their boots during the boom, by calling themselves "architectural salvage yards".
They will be back to being the pound shop for building materials soon.

daveb975

I have oftern wondered about this as well.

Say a decent kitchen costs £10k. Lots of people would have been happy to spend that improving their £200k house.

If houses prices were to halve, will these same people still be able to justify spending £10k - now 10% of the value of the house??

Today's prices for this type of thing will have to come down to a certain extent. If someone buys an average house that is in very poor condition, they might have to spend £80k bringing it back (kitchen, bathroom, flooring, wiring, plastering, garden, central heating etc. If the renovated value is £200k, that is fair enough, but at £100k this means that the house would have only been worth £20k before the work was carried out.

I guess it just means people won't spend as much on renovations going forward.

piggeh

Supposedly builders' wages went up at the same rate as house prices during the boom (ref: The Housebuilders bible). So if house prices are dropping they should be expecting a drop in wages as well (which I guess is happening).

hethmar

Conversely Dave, if people decide its not worth moving in this market, they may reason that they should make the house as comfortable as possible for themselves and spend the money on new fixtures and fittings to enjoy.

Lotus-eater

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

We have not had the B&Q 50% off weekends yet this time round.

Goo time to check out the places that got too big for their boots during the boom, by calling themselves "architectural salvage yards".
They will be back to being the pound shop for building materials soon.

God that is so true, I like walking round them, but generally dislike talking to the people that run them and finding out the prices of things which to my mind is almost always way too high.

daveb975

hethmar wrote: »

Conversely Dave, if people decide its not worth moving in this market, they may reason that they should make the house as comfortable as possible for themselves and spend the money on new fixtures and fittings to enjoy.

That is true, of course.

I still think that a lot of people will find the idea of spending a bigger % of their houses value on something like a kitchen more difficult, especially those who would have to borrow to do it. They will face lower LTV limits now as well.