Panic or first signs of fall?

PINGLEIST

Just looked through my shortlist of houses bookmarked since the start of the year and four have been reduced by £10,000, also noticed a couple of builders reducing their prices on new builds, I thought this was a no-no as they would try any incentives but sdrop the price. Builders are Shepherd homes and Elite homes in West Yorks.
Seems an odd time of year to drop prices and IMO can either be panic before HIPS or the forthcoming rate increase. Anyone notice drops in other parts of the country?

ashcarrot

I've seen a mixture, I've seen a semi in a undesirable area go up 7k (though its been on there for ages so I dunno who their kidding) and a 1 bed house drop 5k (though having said that its a bit of a weird house, no garden, and built weirdly making you wonder it would have been just as simple to fit in 2 beds if they built it normally). Its really hard to say I need some friends who are estate agents really. An d i've seen some overpriced (even for todays prices) places sticking.

And also the most ridiculously priced flats ever. £400k old building by the harbour.

ManAtHome

Could be all sorts of reasons - over-valuation by EA/Builders to get the business, then a reduction to make it look like a bargain, people emigrating or retiring and thought they'd sell within weeks etc...

I'm also in West Yorks, and sales have been pretty flat round here for some time. The cheaper places are still moving - mostly into the btl market, but there's a lot of choice (maybe too much) further up the market.

If builders aren't getting the turnover (no "spring bounce"), they could quickly hit cash-flow problems. They could well have been taking a hit for some time as longer-term rates have been moving up faster than BoE rates.

WARNING - the post from asaengrit (#6 until they get hoiked from the site) is a pay-per-click, absolutely nothing to do with this thread. The idiot posts this everywhere - hopefully not for long.!!

Thanks Dee.

Zammo

I'm seeing lots of flats sticking for months that are now being reduced in price. I also live in a very desirable area in Bristol and normally the houses are snapped up on my street within days of coming on the market. There are three houses for sale at present that have been on the market for over 2 months. Either all these places are being put on at stupid prices or sentiment is beginning to change and we may have reached the top.

Tiger_greeneyes

Historically, when interest rates go up a couple of times in close succession, the market can go a bit quiet - people tend to wait for two or three months to see what's going to happen next.

The prices are still going up where I am (coastal location near Norwich).

hungary97_2

according to a local estate agent a mixture of hips and interest rates are to blame.

there a three times as many properties on the market as people are putting them on to avoid hips therefore people are seeing 20-30 houses as there is more choice compared to the usual 10-15. They aere then getting confused with what they actually have seen and want from a property. With the loom of an interset rate rise people are also being more considered with there purchase and therefore although there are the same number of buyers out there, there ar less offers being made and it is a more competitive market.

Therefore some propertiese will still go under offer in a week but some may stick.

i saw a house i liked yesterday which has got 13 other people wanting to make an offer but are not proceedable.

i dont think the market is crashing it is just becoming more competative and should level out come june when less properties come on the market due to hips just coming on.

amcluesent

You can't ignore the political dimension. Labour will take a hell of beating on 3rd May and will need to engineer a mini-boom to have any hope of a 4th term. The feel-good factor with cheap money on the never-never will sustain prices.

After the election, whoever gets in, the financial house of cards created by the theif Brown will come crashing down.

Dee123_2

asaengrit wrote: »

click here
http://www.getwisely.com/_Panic_or_first_signs_of_fall-main.html

Reported to abuse. If anyone who posted above them sees this, perhaps they could advise people not to click the link. I think you'll find he/she is paid per click.

PINGLEIST

Good point amcluesent and one I didn,t think of but cheap money is in the hands of the Bank of England not Brown, and they are under pressure.

amcluesent

>the hands of the Bank of England not Brown<

But Brown sets the composition of their inflation target, and he's been happy to gerrymander that to exclude many of the real costs experienced by voters (i.e. house prices!)

peter999

Just checked prices of houses in my area in North London.
Have been monitoring prices for past 2 years.

Prices being asked are totally ridiculous !!
How the market is left to unregulated clowns like Estate Agents is beyond me.

peter999

Ps: There won't be an alarm bell when fall/recession happens.
It will happen gradually as interested parties continue to talk up the market.