Have house prices gone up?

whitesatin

Charliezoo wrote: »

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

Thanks, Charliezoo, you too.

Abbots Langley is very nice, we are looking in Boxmoor, Nash Mills and even as far as Leighton Buzzard at the moment. We have not seen anything we liked enough to put an offer in.

Charliezoo

whitesatin wrote: »

Thanks, Charliezoo, you too.

Abbots Langley is very nice, we are looking in Boxmoor, Nash Mills and even as far as Leighton Buzzard at the moment. We have not seen anything we liked enough to put an offer in.

I've found lots of 'recycled' properties and houses that have been around for months in the general area we're looking at. Hopefully some new stuff will appear soon;)

milliebear00001

Houses coming onto RM priced high at the mo near me. Only to reduce significantly after a month/six weeks. It seems to be across several agents as well. My guess is it's a psychological ploy to persuade potential buyers they are getting a good deal.

Charliezoo

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Houses coming onto RM priced high at the mo near me. Only to reduce significantly after a month/six weeks. It seems to be across several agents as well. My guess is it's a psychological ploy to persuade potential buyers they are getting a good deal.

Maybe its worth waiting for a bit. I've heard that its better for buyers during the winter months as apparently prices normally drop - is this generally true? We can hold off for a few months if we're more likely to get a good price.

Is it also true that the market will pick up for a bit once kids are back at school? I was viewing a house today and the vendor said they were reluctant to take low offers at the moment as she believed there would be an influx of viewings when the schools went back:o

knuckledragger

Charliezoo,
if you get your skates on, you'll be in for the November fireworks display at the cricket club, then carol singing and Christmas lights going on in the High Street...
I'd have to agree that Abbots Langley is a great little place.

If you don't mind new builds, Matthew Homes have just done ten houses in Hunton Close in Huntonbridge (which is basically on the edge of Abbots...)

tomstickland

Prices where I am are going down.
Two bed flats that used to sell for £130K at the peak, one has just sold for £99K.
One bed flats that sold for £95K in 2007, one sold for £63K a few months ago.
Other stuff is just sticking on the market for a long time.

Emy1501

Charliezoo wrote: »

Maybe its worth waiting for a bit. I've heard that its better for buyers during the winter months as apparently prices normally drop - is this generally true? We can hold off for a few months if we're more likely to get a good price.

Is it also true that the market will pick up for a bit once kids are back at school? I was viewing a house today and the vendor said they were reluctant to take low offers at the moment as she believed there would be an influx of viewings when the schools went back:o

Prices do tend to fall in winter but there are notmally fewer properties on the market. The market is also normally slower in the school holidays but I'm not sure its as slow as it is at the moment. At least one of the sellers we have offered to is also waiting to see if there is a pick up in Sept but its unclear whether there will be.

The EA my property is under offer with is part of a large chain and speaking to them the other day they were saying that their head office was now really concerned that the market was heading back to where it was in 2008. They think Sept will be a make or break month.

westlondonbuyer

I've just come off the phone from Faron Sutaria. They are part of a big chain, very active in London. The guy I'm dealing with is the branch manager and he's okay as estate agents go - he sold both mine and my husband's pre-marriage flats in 2008.

He says HIPs have gone, and there have been so many newspaper reports about a shortage of supply pushing prices up to 2007 levels "and beyond".

This means it costs people nothing to put their house on the market, and vendors who have no real intention of selling but who "have a price" at which they'd be happy to sell are trying their luck. It's the vendor, not the agent, who sets the price at the moment.

The upshot is that there are going to be many more properties on the market, but anyone who doesn't need to sell isn't going to put it on at a price most buyers are willing to pay.

Now I'm contemplating whether I should just renew my rental lease for another year!

Jowo_2

I never really understood why the introduction of HIPs provided such a brake on supply, given that the average property price is around £150k, and the cost of them were generally around £300, so a fraction of 1% of any transaction.

But I suppose it was a sufficient deterrant to prevent time wasters from putting their properties on the market who have no real drivers to move, such as relocating for a job or need for a bigger property because of extra children.

After all, now all it takes is a quick call to an agent and the property can be put online within a couple of days.

Equally, judging by the posts on this forum, there are many proceedable buyers who are biding their time, hoping to find a seller whose personal circumstances, such as a relationship breakup or need to relocate to a new job, means they can get a property much cheaper.

Must be frustrating to be an estate agent dealing with 2 parties, the seller who has inflated their property who isn't particularly bothered if the property doesn't sell, and a buyer who has indicated that they will only offer a sum well below the asking price and will not negotiate any higher than that.

westlondonbuyer

Jowo wrote: »

But I suppose it was a sufficient deterrant to prevent time wasters from putting their properties on the market who have no real drivers to move, such as relocating for a job or need for a bigger property because of extra children.

So they did have a purpose after all...
We got stung for two HIP surveys when we sold our flats, and no-one ever asked us about any detail they raised.