House hunting in Berkshire

Tancred

Maybe I'm being unrealistic, I don't know. I've been looking for a month for a modest detached property in the Reading-Wokingham-Bracknell area; an area that isn't exactly thinly populated! What little there is in the £300-330k level is poor quality and either in a bad state of repair, very small in size or on busy main roads, near council estates, etc. Anything remotely decent that comes on the market is snapped up in a day or even hours. This is driving me absolutely bonkers!

Is there any particular reason why there are so few good houses on the market? Are people holding back for a reason? If so, why?

onlyroz

Have you thought about Sandhurst or Crowthorne?

Tancred

onlyroz wrote: »

Have you thought about Sandhurst or Crowthorne?

Yes, but even in these places there isn't much there.

jackomdj

London commuter area, demand far exceeds availability which then pushes the prices up, making things look like poor value for money. We moved from Cornwall back in 2000, we ended up buying in Wiltshire, as the prices were so much more reasonable, meaning you got much more for your money.

onlyroz

I would have thought Wokingham would be very expensive but Bracknell is hardly posh so should be more affordable. Or you could look a bit further south to Camberley, Farnborough, Aldershot or Woking.

We have a 3-bed end terrace close to the area you're describing and paid £250k for it. Perhaps if you're struggling to find detached places you could look at semis?

Davesnave

It's because it's Royal Berkshire and priced accordingly....:D

martindow

How about Woodley or Earley? There are some quiet areas away from main roads there like these for instance.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41380664.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41516984.html

Tancred

onlyroz wrote: »

I would have thought Wokingham would be very expensive but Bracknell is hardly posh so should be more affordable. Or you could look a bit further south to Camberley, Farnborough, Aldershot or Woking.

We have a 3-bed end terrace close to the area you're describing and paid £250k for it. Perhaps if you're struggling to find detached places you could look at semis?

Parts of Bracknell are extremely expensive - the outer areas. The inner part of Bracknell isn't very nice at all.

We could look at Camberley/Farnborough but my OH doesn't want to move too far out.

Tancred

martindow wrote: »

How about Woodley or Earley? There are some quiet areas away from main roads there like these for instance.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41380664.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41516984.html

£350k is really too high for us and the other house needs modernisation.

Tancred

jackomdj wrote: »

London commuter area, demand far exceeds availability which then pushes the prices up, making things look like poor value for money. We moved from Cornwall back in 2000, we ended up buying in Wiltshire, as the prices were so much more reasonable, meaning you got much more for your money.

True, but there seems to have been more around last year - I was just wondering is there was a specific local reason for people not selling.

Gentoo365

All the areas you mention are on the Reading --> Waterloo commuter line. As well as being near the M4. There is a premium for this.

In addition a lot of the employment will be private sector, and a lot of the residents will be people located their due to their employment. When the recession hit it may have been the case that there was a lot of movement initially. As people changed jobs and were made redundant. This has all happened now. In fact private sector companies are now recruiting again.

A sample of one individual is not really relevant, however the reason I am not selling my place is that I would like to move nearer to London. However the prices in London are increasing faster than the prices in Berkshire. So I am unable to make the move.

Also I have notices that prices have been drifting upwards somehow, so there is a temptation to see if they get to the pre-2007/8 levels before selling.