If you are thinking of buying this summer ....

tyllwyd

If you are thinking about buying a house this summer, are you waiting to see what comes in the emergency budget on 22 June before doing anything, or does that make no difference to you?

If you are waiting for the budget, do you expect it to make you more or less likely to go ahead with a purchase?

(Just curious! Estate agents are all saying that the market is quiet waiting for the budget so I wondered what the word on the street was!)

roseland69

The state of the economy combined with the budget are making it less likely to go ahead with a purchase. I think prices are going to drop. I'm not waiting till after the budget. I'm waiting till next year. The budget is just a foretaste of things to come to be honest. 6billion cuts isn't going to dent what we owe.

Edit to add: we WERE thinking of buying this Summer by the way at Xmas... but not any more. Prices are clearly dropping. Why buy now?

Eton_Rifle

The trouble is, I don't think you're going to get the unbiased 'word on the streets' in a forum.
You need to actually ask people in real life.

Posting a thread like this here is laying out the welcome mat for those who have an agenda and especially look for threads just like this one so they can get the message out. They may even come from other forums.

So if I posted such a thread, I'd be taking both sides and the numbers of the corresponding respondents with a pinch of salt.

Guitar

[FONT=&quot]Last month I found a house that more or less ticked most of my boxes. So I thought: to hell with the economy, my job security and the possibility of the house price crash. Here was an decent house, at a realistic price that I'd be happy to live in. I was sick of waiting after months of hardly anything appearing on Rightmove within my price band, this house was a beacon in a sea of overpriced flats. I got an AIP (suprisingly easy) and contacted the agents with a offer.

Turns out it had sold a couple months ago but the agents were using it to attract other buyers in the hopes they could sell them something else.

So now I'm back to checking Rightmove daily. Still didn't seem to be much new appearing until I started looking in price bands above what I can afford and was floored by how many flats are coming onto the market, although at varying unrealistic prices.

So now I'm not budging until I see some decent priced properties that I'd want to live in. I can't see how the budget is going to end the stalemate but I'm not buying unless prices drop and vendors won't drop until something forces them to.[/FONT]

QTPie

Personally, no we are nit waiting: we had an offer accepted on a house, two weeks ago and are proceeding...

There is so much uncertainty in the Market AND desirable houses in this area (Bath) have not seen the drop that other areas have (desirable houses here are EASILY selling at 20%+ higher that late 2007 prices here...). We are looking for a house to last us the next 25+ years, we have a 60% deposit and really want to move before our 4.5 month old gets mobile.... We are taking a long term view and want to get on with life - a year or so settled in a nice, practical family house is well worth a short term drop of tens of thousands....

Certainly, in this area, I can't see that it is at all likely that much else that we would be interested inwould come onto the Market within our budget...

Think it depends on your position and your goals....

QT

wymondham

If I were thinking of buying, I would definately hold fire until after the budget. It's claimed to be the most radical in a generation, so could and most certainly would have an effect on my disposable income and hence what I could realistically afford......

fimonkey

As a potential FTB I have been looking on RM for the past 3 years! My remit is purely to get a place I like (2 bed freehold with garden is all I ask for) that is cheaper than if I were to rent the same property - haven't been able to so far even with prices dropping (Christchurch Dorset) - bear in mind I rent a 3 bed flat with 2 others (friends) - HUGE garden and cheap rent, at least half of what I would pay if I bought a 1 bed flat in a block.

IF those properties ever come into my price range in my area then I will buy - I don't care about prices dropping at that point cos it will then be my home as opposed to my investment .. but in the meantime from my own selfish point of view, the more doom and gloom from the Government and media the more prices are likely to drop.

Hope that helps from a 'man on the street'.

Henry_P_Chester

I'm with roseland here. Nearly bought in feb as a FTB offer declined, now the evidence is so overwhelming that price will fall I'll be waiting until next year at the earlist. Budget makes no difference we know it will be bad.

If any buyers are waiting untill after the budget I doubt they will hear anything that will make them rush out and buy! TBH I think it's just EA rhetoric.

LittleMissAspie

Doesn't make any difference. We've been saving for over 3 years and viewing houses for 6 months and just want to get on with it. Thanks to our savings, our repayment is less than our rent. If one of us is made redundant the other can cover all bills, we're only in trouble if both of us lose our jobs but we couldn't afford to rent then either so no difference.

I still hope prices fall because not many people can afford their first home.

livalicious

We in the middle of buying a house, and we initially agreed to a completion date of the 21st June. Great, I thought, that will be before the budget speech. Being FTB's we dont have to pay stamp duty as the house is under £250k, and its probably not likely, but we worried it might be scrapped and we would have to find £2170 from somewhere in order to complete. Also if VAT were to go up, we would have to fork out the extra for that too. I dont know if we worrying about nothing, but I really wouldnt like to risk it, and was therefore happy to complete before then.

That is, until we got a call from the solicitor today saying the vendors now want to complete on the 25th June :eek:

RX-78

One thing to remember is worse the economy, the harder it gets to getting a good mortgage. Or even any mortgage. I'm no expert but the price of the houses seems to be directly linked with population's ability to buy them. So you may find the houses are cheaper next year but you may end up paying more for the mortgage/vat. It is different if you have a hefty deposit (say 30-40%).

Also the rent may go up in the meantime....