So when will House Prices Hit the Bottom?

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Maisie11 wrote: »

The most important benefit when you buy a house is that you can live in it.

The most important thing is that you can afford it, afford it if your partner loses their job, afford it if your partner gets pregnant and wants to stay at home with the child before they goto school, afford it if one of you is unable to work through illness or accident, afford it if interest rates go up to 6,7,8%.

Don't forget as I have said in another thread, the sh*t only hit the fan in the 90's with repossessions when interest rates went way into double digits, this year is likely to see as many repo's as '91 (75000), with interest rates at 1%. Food for thought.

Snooze

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

It is a valid point that it is possible that some people may not be able to afford property and partly why in America the problem was initiated with people being offered property and mortgages they could not afford.

I personally think it is great to own my own properties, however maybe there needs to be a culture change (along with law if necessary) to make it a culture that is also happy to rent as an option.

I'm sure your two friend prefer that they have been able to buy rather than rent.

It's simply because the Government, the media and everyone else has been trotting out the 'renting is dead money' line for that long now that people just cover their ears when anyone saves anything else. Judging by the posts from the renter's just on these two house forums, it seems that everyone wants their own house at whatever cost, period. What a lot of those people don't consider is that owning your own house is not always the bed of the roses many people would have you believe. I won't bother boring you with the details but right now I would certainly much rather not be the owner of this property I live in and be renting where someone else has to sort out the problems.

What this country needs is a system like in many continental countries where renter's have 'guarantees' that they won't suddenly be turfed out after 6 months when the LL fancies a change.

Rob

ess0two

ad9898 wrote: »

The most important thing is that you can afford it, afford it if your partner loses their job, afford it if your partner gets pregnant and wants to stay at home with the child before they goto school, afford it if one of you is unable to work through illness or accident, afford it if interest rates go up to 6,7,8%.

Don't forget as I have said in another thread, the sh*t only hit the fan in the 90's with repossessions when interest rates went way into double digits, this year is likely to see as many repo's as '91 (75000), with interest rates at 1%. Food for thought.

The first paragraph is interesting,its highly probably 90% of the population would be un-able to meet that criteria.
In all seriousness its probably best to rent if you take them facts into context when buying.

Thrugelmir

RainMaker wrote: »

Well Norther Rock are lending (as you note), B & B were almost exclusively BTL, and as far as I know Abbey (Santander) and Halifax are both offerings mortgages. 50 % of the mortgage market ? Am I missing something here ?

Yes, the funding of the mortgage market has fundamentally changed for ever. The supply of cheap credit is no more.

Mortgages will be available but a far higher cost and with higher deposits.

Maisie11

If you look at all these things you will never buy, never take that first step just in case something happens. Well over the last 25 years my partner and I have never been out of work, I do have children and you adjust accordingly but I fear some will never move or take a risk. They are risk adverse and will always wonder why some people are better off or feel that life has dealt others a better deal. We have sizeable equity and a comfortable house but life doesnt offer any guarantees. In a few years our mortage will be paid off and we have a house we can live in FOREVER.

chewmylegoff

Maisie11 wrote: »

If you look at all these things you will never buy, never take that first step just in case something happens. Well over the last 25 years my partner and I have never been out of work, I do have children and you adjust accordingly but I fear some will never move or take a risk. They are risk adverse and will always wonder why some people are better off or feel that life has dealt others a better deal. We have sizeable equity and a comfortable house but life doesnt offer any guarantees. In a few years our mortage will be paid off and we have a house we can live in FOREVER.

still no offers on your beautiful "£1m" house then?

RainMaker_2

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Yes, the funding of the mortgage market has fundamentally changed for ever. The supply of cheap credit is no more.

Forever is a long time !!!

Lending criteria will become easier once house prices stabilise. And I've no doubt it will (at some point) in the future become "loose", once house prices start to rise substantially. There's nothing like a spot of good old fashioned greed to aid memory loss !

Maisie11

Chewmylegoff, you must have looked at past posts. We had an offer for £975K and to be honest my husband really didnt want to move and consequently we have taken our house off the market. Workwise we are in stable jobs and the equity release would have been very nice but we are able to pay our bills using income so didnt see the point of paying £60k plus to release equity at least not at present!

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ess0two wrote: »

The first paragraph is interesting,its highly probably 90% of the population would be un-able to meet that criteria.

That wasn't the case 20,30,40 years ago, in fact when I first bought in '96, it wasn't the case then either, just shows how short peoples memories are and how we have been brain washed into believing that your statement is normal.

Thrugelmir

RainMaker wrote: »

Forever is a long time !!!

Lending criteria will become easier once house prices stabilise. And I've no doubt it will (at some point) in the future become "loose", once house prices start to rise substantially. There's nothing like a spot of good old fashioned greed to aid memory loss !

Agreed it is.

Take some time to do some research and understand the way wholesale funding expanded with the issue of CDO's and the like from the early 2000's ( ties into the way NR's business model worked).

Greed moves with the times. Before housing there was the Dotcom boom and so on. Serious investors will already be looking for the next horse to back.