Another property market boom?

SmartGirl_2

I have been looking for a property to buy in London for the last couple of months. Firstly, the market was very quiet, but now that summer holidays are over, a lot of properties are coming on the market and going under offer in the matter of days. Majority of them seem to be 2-3 bed houses costing £300-£350k.

Being FTB, I am a bit slow to understand:

1) With property prices being already unaffordable for majority o people, why is everybody rushing to buy? Does this happen every autumn or people want to buy before another interest rate rise?

2) What kind of people easily splash out £300-£350k for a starter house in average area?

wymondham

sounds like you need to look for somewhere less expensive, that's extortionate for anything less than a 5 bed mansion!
2 / 3 bed homes start from around £100,000 here in Norfolk...

jamminjamaica

thats crazy money for a first time buy. well then again i suppose it depends on what you earn. i think loads of people buy this time of year.

whatamess_2

Friend was telling me tonight he wanted to remortgage and had the house valued.

18months ago valued at £275k

Eaxctly the same company last week £253K

When asked for a reason he was told surveyor last time was over generous this time over cautious.

sparklewing

Maybe it's just me but I can't comprehend being in the position to have £350k to spend on a house!!!

I mean I know my job is really badly paid at £12k but seriously what kind of money are these people on!!!!

I bought my first flat 2 years ago in Aberdeen for 45k! Yes it's tiny, yes it's in a bit of a dodgy area and yes I luckily bought just before the markets up here went insane AND the vendors were absolutely desperate to sell so I got a great deal but OH MY GOD just imagine having £350k for a house.

whambamboo

wymondham wrote:

sounds like you need to look for somewhere less expensive, that's extortionate for anything less than a 5 bed mansion!
2 / 3 bed homes start from around £100,000 here in Norfolk...

you might as well say they cost around £100k in kazakhstan.....

if you can earn enough to buy a 300k house in london, and not in norfolk, that's why they're 300k in london, and not in norfolk!

wymondham

exactly. As long as people are willing to pay monopoly money then they will stay at 300k! How much must the average joe be earning in that area of London ?

whambamboo

SmartGirl wrote:

I have been looking for a property to buy in London for the last couple of months. Firstly, the market was very quiet, but now that summer holidays are over, a lot of properties are coming on the market and going under offer in the matter of days. Majority of them seem to be 2-3 bed houses costing £300-£350k.

Being FTB, I am a bit slow to understand:

1) With property prices being already unaffordable for majority o people, why is everybody rushing to buy? Does this happen every autumn or people want to buy before another interest rate rise?

2) What kind of people easily splash out £300-£350k for a starter house in average area?

plenty of 25 year olds on £50k++ in London. Combined with boyfriend/girlfriend and deposit, it's no real problem.

That's why I'm not buying in London.

tomstickland

It's all relative - £50K sounds great, but cost of living is all proportionately more expensive in London. Hence house prices.

SamC_4

What kind of people easily splash out £300-£350k for a starter house in average area?

The serious contenders for my £280K three-bedroom London flat in a decidedly average area were:

1. Two brothers and another guy buying together, all lawyers I think.

2. Doctor buying with a friend

3. The eventual buyer, a trustafarian type whose professional parents were paying for most of it.

There were a few other second viewings and I got the impression that most of these buyers were being funded by parents as well.

wymondham

is living in London three times the cost (excluding the crazy house prices) of Norfolk ?? Surely it's just the housing that's different, and if that's the case it's artificially driven ?