London property bubble 'about to burst'

Lynchoid

Hi,
I'd love some quick thoughts on the following if annyone would be kind enough. Me and my wife have been saving for some time to get to the position where we can put a deposit down on a house/flat in London. With all the economic meltdown throuugh the world, is now the time to be looking to buy (possibly a good idea getting my money out of banks) or waiting for 3-6 months and seeing how how prices are effected. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be given a mortgage (we've only saved £25K up till now and so would be looking at 10/15% deposit only) or building up money and buying cheaper in the medium term. Any advice would be welcome as it's been driving me up the wall trying to work out the best time to get a property, buying at the wrong time would be a disaster.
Thanks
Steve

rizla01

Lynchoid wrote: »

Hi,
I'd love some quick thoughts on the following if annyone would be kind enough. Me and my wife have been saving for some time to get to the position where we can put a deposit down on a house/flat in London. With all the economic meltdown throuugh the world, is now the time to be looking to buy (possibly a good idea getting my money out of banks) or waiting for 3-6 months and seeing how how prices are effected. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be given a mortgage (we've only saved £25K up till now and so would be looking at 10/15% deposit only) or building up money and buying cheaper in the medium term. Any advice would be welcome as it's been driving me up the wall trying to work out the best time to get a property, buying at the wrong time would be a disaster.
Thanks
Steve

Now isn't exactly a BAD time to buy something but it MIGHT be - The market is such that no-one can tell.

What will be the effect of the Eurozone collapse (If)?
Can you answer that?

In your shoes I WOULD buy but just be very choosy about your purchase and be prepared to fight for something worth having as there is a lot of carp out there.

There will be a small surge of buyers just after Xmas so be warned.

Interesting to note that SOME property is still overpriced and still moving.:)

According to W A Ellis

There are some types of property that are excelling in the current climate, much sought after and hard to come by – lateral apartments, first floor flats, penthouses with rooftop gardens and low built houses. For these, you can expect to pay in excess of £3,000 per sq ft and anything up to £5,000 per sq ft for the best, especially if buying under competition.

For example, there are currently four lateral flats all overlooking prime garden squares in SW1/SW3 with asking figures over £3,500 per sq ft. These properties are generating immense interest – somewhere between 30 to 40 visitors per flat.

These are people with circa £15m plus to spend who are unable to find a home, so under pressure, are likely to pay over guide price.

Anyway, good luck with the hunt.

mocannhoff

London house prices are tightly related to the health of the financial sector. No bonuses, no mansions!

The-Joker

mocannhoff wrote: »

London house prices are tightly related to the health of the financial sector. No bonuses, no mansions!

No bonuses, less wages more unemployment means lower prices all round.

Lynchoid wrote: »

Hi,
I'd love some quick thoughts on the following if annyone would be kind enough. Me and my wife have been saving for some time to get to the position where we can put a deposit down on a house/flat in London. With all the economic meltdown throuugh the world, is now the time to be looking to buy (possibly a good idea getting my money out of banks) or waiting for 3-6 months and seeing how how prices are effected. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be given a mortgage (we've only saved £25K up till now and so would be looking at 10/15% deposit only) or building up money and buying cheaper in the medium term. Any advice would be welcome as it's been driving me up the wall trying to work out the best time to get a property, buying at the wrong time would be a disaster.
Thanks
Steve

House values will continue down for some time yet. However easy cheap credit will not last long, if you can get a good mortgage on a long term fix then maybe you would be better off going for it now. Compared to buying the same property for a lower amount in the future but paying higher costs on your mortgage.

Personally I would wait for nearer the bottom, but be prepared for higher mortgage costs when we get there and it could be years yet.

the_flying_pig

Lynchoid wrote: »

Hi,
I'd love some quick thoughts on the following if annyone would be kind enough. Me and my wife have been saving for some time to get to the position where we can put a deposit down on a house/flat in London. With all the economic meltdown throuugh the world, is now the time to be looking to buy (possibly a good idea getting my money out of banks) or waiting for 3-6 months and seeing how how prices are effected. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be given a mortgage (we've only saved £25K up till now and so would be looking at 10/15% deposit only) or building up money and buying cheaper in the medium term. Any advice would be welcome as it's been driving me up the wall trying to work out the best time to get a property, buying at the wrong time would be a disaster.
Thanks
Steve

It's really impossible to say.

If anyone did know for certain they could make a lot of money by betting on one of the house price indices.

hope this helps.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Lynchoid wrote: »

Hi,
I'd love some quick thoughts on the following if annyone would be kind enough. Me and my wife have been saving for some time to get to the position where we can put a deposit down on a house/flat in London. With all the economic meltdown throuugh the world, is now the time to be looking to buy (possibly a good idea getting my money out of banks) or waiting for 3-6 months and seeing how how prices are effected. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be given a mortgage (we've only saved £25K up till now and so would be looking at 10/15% deposit only) or building up money and buying cheaper in the medium term. Any advice would be welcome as it's been driving me up the wall trying to work out the best time to get a property, buying at the wrong time would be a disaster.
Thanks
Steve

A nice property in a nice area is fairly certain to hold its value well, and will presumably be somewhere you want to live for some time. A 1 bed flat in a block of identical flats in a dodgy area may end up being hard to sell or rent. £25k isn't much of a deposit unless you both have above average salaries.

Flight2quality

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

A nice property in a nice area is fairly certain to hold its value well,

I wouldnt be so sure of that. It may hold its price but it has to go a long long way to hold its value.

Flight2quality

RenovationMan wrote: »

Yes, and that was by design not accident. Do people really think that an elected government would not do everything it could to prop up house prices and secure the wealth of the vast majority of UK voters?

Ha the funny thing is with all the buyers from overseas soon a large portion of voters will be renters Then letting house prices come down will be a vote winner. Maybe that was the plan?

Very clever when you think about it, get a higher proportion of the population renting and the lower proportion of voters owners. Then the party with promises of affordable house prices and promises to get people owning their own home will get the most votes.

drc

Flight2quality wrote: »

Ha the funny thing is with all the buyers from overseas soon a large portion of voters will be renters Then letting house prices come down will be a vote winner. Maybe that was the plan?

Very clever when you think about it, get a higher proportion of the population renting and the lower proportion of voters owners. Then the party with promises of affordable house prices and promises to get people owning their own home will get the most votes.

Ken Livingstone has already thought of this as a potential vote winner for London's rental classes;

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-24020793-ken-says-boris-has-completely-failed-on-london-housing.do

Bigdeflationfirst

drc wrote: »

Ken Livingstone has already thought of this as a potential vote winner for London's rental classes;

Exactly, if so many property owners in London are from overseas then keeping property inflated in London is not a priority for vote seekers.