Have house prices gone down in London at all?

saverman99

I own a flat 50% . Now my question is? should i buy or staircase during this economic climate ( buy probably another 25% of the flat) or should i make overpayment instead?(i am allowed another 100 pounds no penalty for it)

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Anecdotal evidence- the agent who showed me round the flat I've just started renting sold it to the landlord two years ago for £260k and reckons it's now worth ~£230k. This is a 1 bed garden flat in Wimbledon.

I work in Education and am single, meaning buying a modest 1 bed in a decent part of town is depressingly unrealistic, even with no debts and £20k saved up. Hardly an incentive to save at all, really.

ILW

There are plenty of 1 bed flats in and around London for around the £120k mark. Just not in the more upmarket areas. People need to maybe lower there expectations a little rather than whinging and moaning that they cannot afford to buy.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

ILW wrote: »

There are plenty of 1 bed flats in and around London for around the £120k mark. Just not in the more upmarket areas. People need to maybe lower there expectations a little rather than whinging and moaning that they cannot afford to buy.

I don't actually mind so much myself, as the flexibility of renting has suited me while I've lived here, but I resent the stigma that British society puts on renting, and the increasing sensation of feeling like a peasant for not getting on the ladder by my 30th birthday.

Yes, I could technically afford to buy somewhere in London but I'm not so desperate that I want to get monstrously in debt for the first time in my life for the sake of being the proud owner of a dismal shoebox in a rough (I mean "up and coming") suburb. The idea of buying anywhere, just because you can afford it, is not remotely appealing to me.

What is a realistic FTB expectation then? Whatever you can get? I'd rather save a bit longer and hope for something vaguely decent.

penguine

Our two-bed flat in a non-trendy but safe part of west London was valued for remortgage purposes at £150k the end of last year. There are one-bed flats on the market nearby for £20-30k more, but I would guess they'd have trouble selling at that price.

Give it another year, with many fewer FTBers and BTLers in the market I'd think prices of flats will fall a lot further.

Mr_Matey

House prices have both gone down in my area of West London but they're still overpriced.

Rentals have also gone down.

Austin_Allegro

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I don't actually mind so much myself, as the flexibility of renting has suited me while I've lived here, but I resent the stigma that British society puts on renting, and the increasing sensation of feeling like a peasant for not getting on the ladder by my 30th birthday.

Yes, I could technically afford to buy somewhere in London but I'm not so desperate that I want to get monstrously in debt for the first time in my life for the sake of being the proud owner of a dismal shoebox in a rough (I mean "up and coming") suburb. The idea of buying anywhere, just because you can afford it, is not remotely appealing to me.

What is a realistic FTB expectation then? Whatever you can get? I'd rather save a bit longer and hope for something vaguely decent.

LOL try renting when you're approaching 40! It's been a contributing factor in the break up of more than one relationship with the opposite sex...but my view is if a woman doesn't understand the economic reasons why it's better to rent at the moment, she's not worth the time of day.

I've got a reasonable, but small garden flat in a very nice part of London at an affordable rent, meaning I can save a lot of money. Why on earth should I mortgage myself into penury for some hovel in a slum, just to 'get on the ladder' when that concept has ceased to have any meaning?

ninky_2

you can get 1 bed garden flat in victorian conversion in north london N17 under 150k. much cheaper on offer in blocks.

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=3669862#

Also look at N15 and N22. i hear camberwell is really cheap. a friend is looking at 2 beds there under 150k!