Are prices going up or down? FTB Help please!

BargainHunterCat

lynzpower wrote: »

One thing Id suggest, is find something cheaper to rent. I know you might have to sacrifice the area, but its short term, and see it as a spring board.

Im guessing your mortgage would allow you to borrow somewhere in the region of 120k? am i right or have you been offered more? the other thing to note is while having debt the products youll be offered are a higher rate. Additionally, one lender took my debt multiplied by 3 and subtracted from the amount they were willing to lend me. I dont know if this is happening now, but something to be aware of

OH has been renting this flat for over 2 years and is happy to stay here right now. As we are renting it privately its doubtful we'd find anything for much less even in Boscombe, and quite frankly I would be very uneasy about living in that area.

Thanks for the tip on debts. One thing I have considered is that OH gets the mortgage just in his name and I pay a contribution to him. He earns enough to get a mortgage for about £150k on his own at a push and his parents can sub him for the deposit.

With my messy financial situation, I'd probably just be a liability right now - and there's no way my parents would give me a penny towards it.

Ian_W

billion25 wrote: »

I can confirm that house prices are going up or down.

Sorry mate - that's only partly true.

They'll ONLY go up or down - if they don't remain static!;)

amcluesent

Like all markets, fear and greed drive housing. IMHO, there are signs of a 'top', at least in London with absurd prices (£600K for a studio) and 'sealed-bid' style auctions for desperate buyers.

It's not just interest rates that could cause a decline in prices, we should also acknowledge that the Brown 'economic miracle' is largely a sham with numpties being taken on to work in the public sector (600,000 extra civil servants) and all the time jobs are going to India/China. Anything that exposes this (oil shock due to Israeli bombing of Iran) will result in plenty of mortgage holders loses their jobs and being unable to keep up repayments.

You need to look at the gap between house prices in sh*t areas and decent places in your town; once they are about the same, you can call a top and expect the usual gap to reappear in a few years.

Generali

amcluesent wrote: »

Like all markets, fear and greed drive housing. IMHO, there are signs of a 'top', at least in London with absurd prices (£600K for a studio) and 'sealed-bid' style auctions for desperate buyers.

Really? Got a link to the flat at the estate agent. This I've gotta see.

Snow_Dog

The prices in Poole and Bournemouth do not seem to be rational, I have seen places in Poole rise by 20% in the last year alonw, and three bed detached places in parkstone/oakdale that were struggling at mid to high 200's asking 300K plus this year.

Also chatting to a local agent he reckons they are still very busy.

However a number of properties I was keeping an eye on last year didnt sell or sale price significantly lower than asking price.

If you want any advice on good/bad areas/roads in Poole and surrounding areas just ask I have been keeping a close eye on the market in these areas over the last couple of years (admittedly not so much over winter though).

I can also see your reluctance in moving to Boscombe, but again there are good and bad areas there too.

jonewer

If I knew what the markets were going to do tomorrow I would be the world's richest man by a very large margin indeed.

Woby_Tide

BargainHunterCat wrote: »

OH has been renting this flat for over 2 years and is happy to stay here right now. As we are renting it privately its doubtful we'd find anything for much less even in Boscombe, and quite frankly I would be very uneasy about living in that area.

When I first moved here 10 years ago Boscombe was the first place I 'visited' on the day I came to rent a place. I rented and then subsequently bought there. If you pretty much discount the Springbourne/Nth Xchurch Rd part the rest of Boscombe personally I find absolutely fine and probably one of the 'prime' areas if I had to buy. With all the money being chucked in to doing up houses and also the pier regeneration that area South of Xchurch rd towarsd Southbourne is spot on, minutes to the beach and minutes to supermarkets/shops. If any area will 'outperform' or conversely 'ride out a storm' in the next few years i'd bank on that area personally.

But you also have to factor in your situation and jobs etc, the town is reliant on only a handful of big employers who probably account for a fair protion of residents, if the economy does change will be interesting to see what happens