House price drop from 2007 to now

BitterAndTwisted

In some (maybe most) parts of the South-East prices have not dropped at all since 2007.

What you need to concentrate on is not asking prices but actual, recently sold prices of similar properties in the same neighbourhood before you decide whether what they are asking for is reasonable or not.

googler

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What you need to concentrate on is not asking prices but actual, recently-sold prices of similar properties in the same neighbourhood before you decide whether what they are asking for is reasonable or not.

I concur. Also, you could factor in the average shift in prices for the street/neighbourhood/area/village/town/city that you're looking at with the aid of Zoopla's sold prices.

Call up the sold prices for the street or other area you're interested in, and above the search results, there's a drop-down menu to select the time period that you want to show the shift for - select 5 years, and this will show you roughly how much average sale prices have moved since 2007/8 in the area concerned.

phoebe1989seb

We sold a house in the South East (between Colchester & Clacton) in Spring 2011 for £25k less than we paid in November 2007........and that didn't take into account the further £40k+ we'd spent on renovations including two new high-end bathrooms & solid wood/granite kitchen, rewiring, landscaping etc, so a total *loss* of £65k or more.

The price we achieved (within two weeks of marketing which I realise indicates we could have priced too low, but we priced realistically deliberately in order to facilitate a quick sale) was £20k more than the sale price in 2004.....and the two owners prior to us had done no work to the property in that time......

shirlgirl2004

So the house price will have dropped about 7% for the south east. That means if it was worth £150k it would now be worth £138k. However they have replaced windows and a few other bits. We don't know if they got a good deal when they bought it. Given it's on at 150 means it will probably sell at about the right price given the minor improvements.

myhouse_2

I recently bought a house at 20% off asking price. I didn't necessarily get a bargain, it was just massively overpriced. Took 2 years to be sold - time is your best friend if it is on your side - there is often no other way to make vendors' realise the value of their house.
Definitely go in low and unashamedly so if necessary.

Oranjeboom

TDPIX wrote: »

Sometimes people can just have unrealistic expectations - perhaps this is the case with the vendors. If you do put in an offer, I'd consider doing it in writing and explaining why you are offering xx% lower than their asking price - e.g. similar properties have sold for £nnnk [okay as you say, this might be tricky to do], house prices in the South East have fallen by xx% in real terms from the 2007 peak, etc.

Perhaps if the offer is rejected you can then ask the estate agent exactly why the vendors have priced their property as they have done, based on what you mentioned. Either they'll give a good reason which will help you to understand things from their perspective, or it'll be clear that the vendors are just being unrealistic and it may be time to find another property.

That's just my $0.02.

Yes, I did make an offer which was at 105k and duly got the answer I expected - 'No, not enough'. I've made it clear to the agent that I'm now continued my search elsewhere...and I'll let them stew for a few weeks. If she calls me back I'll give her reasons. Thanks for the tip!

Mickygg wrote: »

You say upvc windows and carpets not a big job?

Could be worth £10k.


Also are you comparing asking prices or what the house was previously sold for?

Yes, I am comparing pears with pears...sold prices...not rose tinted prices.;) As for their improvements, the EPC didn't grade the UPVC windows very highly (badly installed, poor quality?) and the carpets had seen better days since they'd been laid. So their home improvements wouldn't warrant the inflated price. IMHO.

brit1234 wrote: »

I don't think anything is selling 2007 prices other than central london and they are faltering.

Have you checked it with propert bee and what other houses have sold for in the street.

Not much has sold in the immediate area so difficult to compare. However the one that did sell some years ago has had an extension, improvements and is marginally more. Propertee bee causes my FF to go real sllllloooow but it didn't pick up on this house when i tried. Thanks anyway.:o

nollag2006 wrote: »

House prices in the South East recovered to levels similar to the late 2007 levels. In many areas, particularly in London, they are well above peak levels.

Have a look here to get an idea of prices today, compared to late 2007:


I popped in Surrey into the above, and it came back with a 1% drop over the period. On that basis, I can't see your vendors being in any rush to accept a low ball offer from you, particularly as we move into Spring bounce territory.

The LR tool deals with a huge area and isn't that accurate when comparing at a county level - in my case Kent. Still, it gives a 9% drop. Indeed prices in my area have certainly not crept up back to even near 2007 highs.

googler wrote: »

I concur. Also, you could factor in the average shift in prices for the street/neighbourhood/area/village/town/city that you're looking at with the aid of Zoopla's sold prices.

Call up the sold prices for the street or other area you're interested in, and above the search results, there's a drop-down menu to select the time period that you want to show the shift for - select 5 years, and this will show you roughly how much average sale prices have moved since 2007/8 in the area concerned.

Yes, Zoopla is similar to my figures....115k. Certainly a drop rather than anything close to what they paid for it in 2007. I wasn#t sure how accurate Zoopla was, but it tallies with my figures pretty well. Okay, I went in 5-10k under what it 'may' sell for, but will take the risk of waiting a few weeks and the upping my offer.

myhouse wrote: »

I recently bought a house at 20% off asking price. I didn't necessarily get a bargain, it was just massively overpriced. Took 2 years to be sold - time is your best friend if it is on your side - there is often no other way to make vendors' realise the value of their house.
Definitely go in low and unashamedly so if necessary.

Yes, that#s what I have done. Let's see who blinks first! I've actually seeing another property tomorrow that's at 170k but is also bigger and has less work to do. Be interesting to see how that compares.

sunshinetours

Bottom line its worth what someone will pay for it. Online valuations from Zoopla etc are based largely on thin air.

If you like the place and you want to value it at £110 - 115k then just make that your target price and do what you are already doing by the sounds of it. However be realistic when making your offers - simply saying the place needs £15k of work may not get you off on the right foot if it clearly doesn't NEED it (you may want to spend that but thats different)

Noone on here can tell you factually whether its right or wrong. property hotspots are usually very local and as above some areas have dropped far more than others and some haven't really moved