Is the market that quiet?

<sebb>

To some extent it doesn't actually matter WHY they housing market is quiet. The fact of the matter is that no-one IS WILLING OR ABLE to buy your house at the price you have asked for at this moment in time. That means it is overpriced.

Taking a few extreme examples, if there is a house on the market for £2m but there are only 2 people in the world that have that much money available. One of them is willing and able to pay £2m for your house, so at that point in time it is worth at most £2m. The other one has no interest in buying your house for £2m but would buy it for £1.5m. The next week the original buyer loses all their cash at the casino, and still wants your house, still thinks it is worth £2m, but simply doesn't have the money. So if you need to sell your house, you have no choice but to sell it for £1.5m to the only other person in a position to buy it. So the value is now at most £1.5m.

I might have the personal opinion that your house is worth what you're asking, but unless I am willing and able to pay that price, my opinion does not count towards the value of your house. So if there is no demand at the price you are asking, then you need to lower your price until it is at a level that will attract a buyer. Again at the extreme, it would get snapped up for £10 but not £200,000 so there has to be a price in the middle that would make someone buy it. You have to find that price!

I originally said "to some extent" it doesn't matter for the reason that demand is low, but I guess if you actually believe the EA and it is because of the football then if you wait a few months the buyers will be flooding in. I personally believe it's a more deep rooted longer term reason to do with the low availability of mortgages and uncertainty of the economic environment.

Henry_P_Chester

People can't afford or are unwilling to buy. Particulary FTBs. That means demand is low simple economics says that low demand lowers prices. There's your answer if you truly want to sell it has to be cheaper than any comparable properties in the area to attract the few buyers that are about.

Holding out for higher prices is a risky game currently.

mazinmouse

I think how many viewings you have is related to the number of other properties around on the market. In our area the main local estate agent has kept loads of properties on its website labelled as 'Sold STC', when the sales were completed months ago, becuase if these are removed they'll only have a skeleton selection of homes for sale. Hardly seems worth going out looking.

Jowo_2

mazinmouse wrote: »

I think how many viewings you have is related to the number of other properties around on the market.

versus the buyers looking, of course.

My understanding is that mortgage approvals are easily 80 or 90% down compared to a few years back so there's a complete vacuum there instead of people actively in the position to buy.

So yes, the number of properties on the market is a factor (loads) but this is exascerbated by the lack of buyers, too.

Idiophreak

<sebb> wrote: »

To some extent it doesn't actually matter WHY they housing market is quiet. The fact of the matter is that no-one IS WILLING OR ABLE to buy your house at the price you have asked for at this moment in time. That means it is overpriced.

It might mean it's overpriced, or it might mean that all the buyers are watching the football. It might mean that the EA has done a poor job of selling the place, it might mean the rightmove listing is poor....

There are many factors in your success at selling a home, if you just drop your price continually without looking at the others, you won't get the best price for the place.

Eric1

Idiophreak wrote: »

It might mean it's overpriced, or it might mean that all the buyers are watching the football. It might mean that the EA has done a poor job of selling the place, it might mean the rightmove listing is poor....

Come on, not football again.
Agree about EA or RM, but football and weather excuses are really lame.
Serious buyers are hunting for a house to live in, not a pair of shoes

LittleMissAspie

mattdragon2 wrote: »

I was a FTB last year but I have given up looking for houses for 1-2 years because I refuse to pay so much money for a house that is not worth the price.

Even if I wanted to buy a house with a 50k deposit I can't, because they are still out my range. I have had to look on the outskirts of Cambridge. I would rather not commute 35-45 mins to work and spend tons of money on petrol, stuck in traffic, getting more car repairs, have less money to go out.

See my thread about Cambridge on the house prices arguments forum. You sound a bit like my boyfriend actually, wants to live within cycling distance but doesn't want to pay a lot of money. You can't have both in Cambridge. Our repayment on a village 2-bed is less than the rent on our city 1-bed and with overpayments we will have the mortgage paid off in 10 years.

I do think Cambridge is overpriced and I hope prices drop so that more FTBs can buy. But you also need to accept that Cambridge is one of the more expensive cities in the country and always will be.

A 30 minute drive is a perfectly average commute btw.