An estate agent told me the market is falling.

ruggedtoast

So there you are, end of speculation.

I'd just put an offer in too. Unfortunately in this case it was to tell me that in this case the vendor was unaware the market was falling so wouldnt take my offer.

Which I suppose in a sense means his bit of the market hasnt fallen.

Anyway, I hope to capitalise on the doom and misery of the increased buying opportunities a falling market has presented me with shortly.

Doom!

ess0two

50% off by xmas

michaels

I am wondering what it will take for the current fall in house prices to become 'perceived wisdom' for the population as a whole - once this happens of course, as well as demand falling off a cliff (why buy now when it will be cheaper next year) supply will also presumably dry up again.

May be a sharply down Haliwide index month - say >1% in a month for the BBC and others to start running headlines about how many pounds per day the average house is falling and double dip gloomsters to have their predictions plastered all over the inside pages.

Blacklight

michaels wrote: »

I am wondering what it will take for the current fall in house prices to become 'perceived wisdom' for the population as a whole - once this happens of course, as well as demand falling off a cliff (why buy now when it will be cheaper next year) supply will also presumably dry up again.

May be a sharply down Haliwide index month - say >1% in a month for the BBC and others to start running headlines about how many pounds per day the average house is falling and double dip gloomsters to have their predictions plastered all over the inside pages.

Well if what people post on here (and other places) is anything to go by then there's a hell of a lot of pent up demand for cheaper housing (or it could just be the same person posting under different names).

As soon as prices fall to a level where they are within reach of those that have chosen to rent for the last five years until they can buy a similar home to their parents as a first purchase, I'm sure we'll see some prices rise again.

To take your second point about a double dip, the current growth forecast is 1.7%. That said they'll print anything to sell newspapers.

ruggedtoast

Blacklight wrote: »

Well if what people post on here (and other places) is anything to go by then there's a hell of a lot of pent up demand for cheaper housing (or it could just be the same person posting under different names).

As soon as prices fall to a level where they are within reach of those that have chosen to rent for the last five years until they can buy a similar home to their parents as a first purchase, I'm sure we'll see some prices rise again.

To take your second point about a double dip, the current growth forecast is 1.7%. That said they'll print anything to sell newspapers.

To be honest if mortgages dont become more available prices are going to to have to drop an awful lot for that to make much of a difference.

I estimate that few 20 something couples on average salaries whose parents arent giong to give them a leg up will get to near 30 with more than £20k in savings. Even that is probably pretty optimistic if youve had student loans to pay off, and had a bit of fun as people in their 20s are wont to do.

That gives you an £80k mortgage, not enough to buy a flat in many places, at a time in your life when youre thinking about kids and settling down.

doire_2

ruggedtoast wrote: »

So there you are, end of speculation.

I'd just put an offer in too. Unfortunately in this case it was to tell me that in this case the vendor was unaware the market was falling so wouldnt take my offer.

Which I suppose in a sense means his bit of the market hasnt fallen.

Anyway, I hope to capitalise on the doom and misery of the increased buying opportunities a falling market has presented me with shortly.

Doom!

As opposed to the doom of getting into massive debt just to own a home. Imagine working every hour God sends just to keep a roof over your head.

Glad i didn't do it.

FTBFun

ess0two wrote: »

50% off by xmas

Absolutely ridiculous this.

70% off I reckon.

michaels

I would have thought it is not just about prices being at a level that would be buyers consider to be affordable but also that prices have stopped falling - if I was out of the market I wouldn't buy just because I now could if I thought I could buy more/cheaper in 6 months time.

Blacklight wrote: »

Well if what people post on here (and other places) is anything to go by then there's a hell of a lot of pent up demand for cheaper housing (or it could just be the same person posting under different names).

As soon as prices fall to a level where they are within reach of those that have chosen to rent for the last five years until they can buy a similar home to their parents as a first purchase, I'm sure we'll see some prices rise again.

nearlynew

Prices have been falling for a while now and continue to do so.

Blacklight

doire wrote: »

As opposed to the doom of getting into massive debt just to own a home. Imagine working every hour God sends just to keep a roof over your head.

Glad i didn't do it.

You still have to work every hour god sends to pay the rent though. Plus you have no prospect of ever getting off that treadmill until you're about 70, or whatever retirement age is by the time you're that age.

Then what? Who keeps a roof over your head then?

At least if you buy a place you can give up work at some point, or at least cut your hours so you can enjoy you life.

I never understood the 'I'm happy renting for the rest of my life' argument.

Blacklight

nearlynew wrote: »

Prices have been falling for a while now and continue to do so.

Not according to the Halifax.