Is it me or are houses starting to sell?

Conrad

Business is up on any comparable month since last summer.
Nothing Earth shattering, but and indicator we aren't in a depression.
I think it will bottom out this year as N Rock and RBS increase lending which will cause others to follow as they don't want a loss of market share.

ad44downey

roxy889 wrote: »

I

Is anyone else getting this feeling?

No. I'd seek urgent medical advice if I were you..

maninthestreet

Not round my way (Reading/Wokingahm) - Development of 6 detached properties, completed May/June of last year. Three have been sold, one has been let, 2 others still unsold.

botchjob

There are certainly buyers out there and our own sale (a probate sale) has been surprisingly easy, touch wood. The flat went on the market 10 days ago at £220k and, 15 viewings and 2 separate offers later we’ve accepted at £210k. It’s a good flat in a decent area and is sensibly priced. At peak it might have fetched £250k so £210k represents a 16% drop, which is about right for the area.

lostinrates

Since this morning one of the houses I have been watching has gone SSTC. Its a beautiful house, been sticking for a while, out of my budget though so I didn't go to view. Its the kind of house I'd be aspiring to if I were richer

inneed

One down our street been on the market for 18 months or so, just sold, and one round the corner sold within weeks. - Spring is in the air!

lethal0r

15 houses sold in january in the small city I live in according to land registry figures. theres at least 5 EAs round here, probably 6 or 7. So thats maybe £7k income each for the month.

ive read/heard the 'green shoots' saying every week for the last year.

geoffky

Did anyone think that no houses would be selling?? they are but at very much reduced prices... AND that helps the falls go down quicker....its welcome

WestonDave

Almost all the ones near me that have been on the market since roughly this time last year have gone (last one I had been watching had a sold notice up over the weekend) - probably aided by price reductions of around 10-12% off the top. What is noticeable is that there are still some units in a new build development stuck at their original price since late 2007 - its also notable that one of the ones that did sell is now on the market again for a lot less than they are asking for the new ones, so the new ones aren't going to shift.

It is also noticeable that the local independent EA who has always had a reputation for realistic pricing (we sold ours in 2006 through him to get a quick sale and he sold it in a week at a price which proved later to be the right price asked straight off rather than asking 25% over and getting knocked down!) is the one shifting a lot more than the "price up, haggle down" merchants from the city centre. Because he doesn't lie about the likely asking price to get business he probably doesn't get the unrealistic sellers on his books.

I guess the overall point from the above is that things will sell if priced right and that evidence of sales isn't necessarily evidence of a flattening out of price drops.

penguine

WestonDave wrote: »

It is also noticeable that the local independent EA who has always had a reputation for realistic pricing (we sold ours in 2006 through him to get a quick sale and he sold it in a week at a price which proved later to be the right price asked straight off rather than asking 25% over and getting knocked down!) is the one shifting a lot more than the "price up, haggle down" merchants from the city centre. Because he doesn't lie about the likely asking price to get business he probably doesn't get the unrealistic sellers on his books.

I have noticed exactly the same thing where I live. The one independent EA has a number of SSTC signs in his window, and the prices are also startlingly low -- even though I'm expecting prices to fall, I was still a bit shocked by how low these prices are.

In contrast, one of the big chains has just 2 SSTC signs up, including on one property that I happen to know went under offer last April and completed in September.