MSE News: Halifax - House prices fell during April 9 May 2011 at 2:21PM in Mortgages & Endowments 15 replies 1.8K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"House prices fell at their fastest annual rate for 18 months during April as weak consumer confidence caused buyers to stay away from the market ..."

Read the full story:
Halifax: House prices fell during April



This thread is not in the 'discuss house prices and economy board' as that is only open to those logged into the forum so anyone coming from the news story may not be able to see it.

RandomGuy

But I thought house prices only ever went up?

-1.4% is a massive MoM drop... and although the YoY drop states -3.7%, if you actually calculate the figures yourself it's a YoY drop of -4.86%.

This is great news for home buyers and money savers!

Lower house prices means greater affordability. House price falls will help first time buyers and help get the housing market moving again.

Lower rents and monthly mortgage repayments means people have more money in their pocket to spend in the real economy. This will boost consumer spending and improve job opportunities. This is great news for everyone!

Well done Martin and MSE for advocating lower house prices! With so many vested interests in the media wanting to force prices up (housing, gas, electricity, food, fuel, phone bills, etc) it's good to know that MSE is here to raise awareness and report positive news such as this.

rickbonar

This is known commonly in the business as : The spring bounce effect.

Nothing to worry about as prices will resume shortly

noodle

My understanding is that there's usually a bounce after Christmas as that's when people get back to moving plans. Is that not the case, is the bounce usually later? Albeit that in the present climate I'd envisage a 'bounce' to mean a slowing in price falls, rather than a rise.

rickbonar

Yes the slowing in house prices is the spring bounce!

now if interest rates were to rise to 5% instead of .5% I wonder what would happen?

shortchanged_2

Looks like the spring bounce is more like a bounce in quick sand at the moment.

noodle

I would expect any bounce to be deferred. Leaving aside the tiny issue of mortgage availability, people are uncertain and will be holding on to see what happens to both property values and their jobs. They are being, rightly, patient. Eventually, sound buyers will realise that their jobs are actually safe (most peoples are) and will just decide to get on with it.

I have a property on the market and after a steady stream of viewers before Christmas, I've barely had any since. My agent claims that it's been incredibly quiet, but things are picking up now (though, of course, she would say that). The fact that she's not even raised the idea of dropping the price indicates that it's a straight-forward lack of people even looking that is the issue.

shortchanged_2

noodle wrote: »

I would expect any bounce to be deferred. Leaving aside the tiny issue of mortgage availability, people are uncertain and will be holding on to see what happens to both property values and their jobs. They are being, rightly, patient. Eventually, sound buyers will realise that their jobs are actually safe (most peoples are) and will just decide to get on with it.

I have a property on the market and after a steady stream of viewers before Christmas, I've barely had any since. My agent claims that it's been incredibly quiet, but things are picking up now (though, of course, she would say that). The fact that she's not even raised the idea of dropping the price indicates that it's a straight-forward lack of people even looking that is the issue.

Have you not considered the possibility of dropping your price?

Or are you not really that desperate to sell?

Yes the market may well be slow at the moment but the pressure on prices is undeniably downwards at the moment. So the longer your house is on the market unsold, the more overpriced it looks to potential buyers.

noodle

shortchanged wrote: »

Have you not considered the possibility of dropping your price?

Or are you not really that desperate to sell?

Yes the market may well be slow at the moment but the pressure on prices is undeniably downwards at the moment. So the longer your house is on the market unsold, the more overpriced it looks to potential buyers.

I am in no hurry at all, but, also, I have considered dropping the price.. and I will do if/when *some* properties start to move and mine looks overpriced.

As it stands, if nobody is buying anything then there's no reason to reconsider my price (given I'm in no hurry to sell).

Don't worry, I'm under no illusions about what's going on (indeed, I think we need a proper price fall.. and would welcome it even though I'd be an unmitigated loser if it happened.. though I don't believe it will or, if it does, I believe it will be a very drawn-out process).

dimbo61

House prices have not dropped in the North west but who knows what will happen next month/next year.

brit1234

I think we can pretty much say house prices are falling all over the country. Next months figures may be a mixed bag but after that I reckon big falls for the rest of the year.

The simple fact is we have a giant housing bubble, prices are simply too high. If all the other housing bubbles are collapsing round the world, why not ours.

Sellers are increasing their asking prices against the tide, they have ignored the economic fundamentals and first time buyers aren't having it. They can see their disposable incomes dwindling away and they are simply not going to play the sellers game especially when actual selling prices keep falling month after month.