Have house prices gone up?

AppleCore

I've been househunting since June and have noticed that many houses which sold in May/June seemed to have lower APs then the ones that are coming on now.

Eg, 3 bed detached house with garage on the market from March, sold in June, AP 350k (dropped from 360k in May). Identical house in same condition in next street came on late July for 390k.

3 bed end of terrace with garage, sold in May AP 325k, identical house 5 doors up coming on the market this week for 335k.

Is this just the area (Watford) I'm looking at? It seems that prices may be on the rise.

silvercar

Could be a seasonal variation. At this time of year, homes in the catchment area of popular schools could attract a premium. I'm not that far away from you and have noticed an increase in decent houses in good roads. Remember that you are looking at asking prices of homes just coming on the market. Agreed prices may be lower and these prices may fall if there is no initial interest.

whitesatin

I am also looking in the Watford/Herts area, downsizing so looking for something around £300k.

Every day I am getting emails from estate agents showing price reductions.

What people ask and what people achieve are two different things.

I will be putting an offer far below the asking price when the time comes.

I had to drop by around 50k to get my sale - Surrey.

alexanderreturns

I dropped by 40 thousand on mine. Figured I'd made some money on it earlier in the decade and went ahead with sale.
Two houses near me have put their prices UP even though they've been on the market for 18 months. Think maybe agents thought it was party time with interest rates so low. They are still on sale.

Charliezoo

whitesatin wrote: »

I am also looking in the Watford/Herts area, downsizing so looking for something around £300k.

Every day I am getting emails from estate agents showing price reductions.

What people ask and what people achieve are two different things.

I will be putting an offer far below the asking price when the time comes.

I had to drop by around 50k to get my sale - Surrey.

That's a coincidence, we sold our house in Ottershaw, Surrey in July and are relocating to Abbots Langley. It seems most of the properties we like are just out of reach and it's particularly annoying to see that some sold within our price range a month or two before we were in a position to buy.

Have you put any offers in yet? I'm surprised to hear people talking about starting 20% below asking when we've had offers 5% below rejected. I'm not sure if it's the area or we're just unlucky with the vendors!

Good luck with your househunting Whitesatin

Jowo_2

As one wag wrote in Private Eye - "newspaper reports indicate that property prices are increasing/decreasing/stable".

Seems a strange marketing strategy for new sellers to put their properties onto the market for a greater sum than similar properties that remain unsold many months later despite dropping their prices...

Catbells

My house dropped by £100k in 3 years - I have nearly sold it for £1.2m today (exchanging tomorrow hopefully). Houses I'm looking at in the £600k mark seem to me to be going down after a couple of months by upto £50k max. Thats over the last 5 months of looking experience.

Catbells

Jowo wrote: »

As one wag wrote in Private Eye - "newspaper reports indicate that property prices are increasing/decreasing/stable".

Seems a strange marketing strategy for new sellers to put their properties onto the market for a greater sum than similar properties that remain unsold many months later despite dropping their prices...

I've noticed this too. But wait a few months and the new arrivals to the selling market may drop their prices too.
Many sellers may be basing the evaluation of their house value on the market several years ago (like me) only to have a rude awakening when reality kicks in a few months down the line (like me).

westlondonbuyer

Jowo wrote: »

Seems a strange marketing strategy for new sellers to put their properties onto the market for a greater sum than similar properties that remain unsold many months later despite dropping their prices...

I think this is a function of intense competition between agents - they overvalue to get the instruction, then chip away at the asking price for ages until a buyer bites.

I don't think many older sellers are familiar with the information younger buyers access readily on the internet (land registry actual achieved prices, for example). Also, when you hear the agent's valuation, there's a temptation to think "ker-ching" and start mentally spending the money.

westlondonbuyer

Are you going to buy immediately, Catbells? Or rent?

Years ago, people sold and bought the next house at exactly the same time. Now I know so many people (including us) who are renting.

Catbells

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Are you going to buy immediately, Catbells? Or rent?

Years ago, people sold and bought the next house at exactly the same time. Now I know so many people (including us) who are renting.

I'm renting an unoccupied vicarage in my area (see my other thread on this - a bit funny). Its a great deal as you know what vicarages are like.. well maybe you dont .. its big but theyre a bit spartan though has warmth and I can make it comfortable. I can store my furniture there and save on that while I'm looking for a new house. I have to sign a rental contract with a Bishop. Is that a 1st I wonder!!!!!!!