First Time Buyers - Disillusioned

joujou

MrChandlerBing wrote: »

I am also looking in Sale, with a budget of around 140k.

It is madness, the market is cut throat and people either want crazy money for something or it goes in an instant! Nightmare. Keep on plugging away

Good luck

Better_Days

I must admit I am struggling to work out exactly what is going on in our market locally.

Over the last couple of months I have been keeping a record of the number of new properties that come up daily on my RM area searches and also the number that are reduced.

The amount of new properties listed has been fairly static through both April & May and is at least a third less than this time last year (according to home.co.uk). For the area search which takes in a more rural properties the percentage that have been reduced is about a third. For the area search which is more closely drawn around the towns and villages the percentage of properties reduced is about a quarter.

Once a week I have a look on RM and see how many not STC are listed in the area search. This is pretty static too. At the end of April there were 555 listed and at the end of May 558 listed.

A number of agents have commented that there are plenty of buyers but there is a shortage of properties coming onto the market. Certainly the price range between £200k to £250k is especially barren.

So I would expect this to push up prices. But some agents seem to be going OTT. The EA who I know the best and who sold my house in January said that some agents are asking silly prices. Today I viewed a bungalow in a less popular village, and a third smaller than the one I sold recently, but the AP is what I sold mine for. It will be interesting to see how quickly it sells. I am also wondering how much my stats are being skewed by properties that don't even get onto RM due to the inbalance between buyers and available properties.

So what I am trying to get my head around is that there is a shortage of properties, but at the same time somewhere between a third and a quarter of properties are being reduced because they are over valued. Is this pattern being repeated elsewhere I wonder?

nightingalesgarden

Sale has nearly more Estate Agents than charity shops - and their number is growing - this should tell you something about the market.

A few points:

• Most houses are extended and therefore people want return on their investment - anything extended/nice goes for over £220K
• There are few houses on the market in your price range and in certain M33 areas none of them have lost more than 5 - 10% of their value in the last 8 or so years. As there is low housing stock and people tend to live here for a long time, they know this...and are prepared to wait
• Because of this there is no fear of the market dropping - hence rejecting offers. I don't believe prices have changed that much since 2008
• Depends on which side of the Washway you are looking. If you are prepared to look at Sale Moor or near the motorway you can get a bargain. If you are set on M33, on the "right side" then sorry, 3 beds are the price they are....
• Suspect as most are family homes the reason for the sudden rush is about Schools - there are some very good ones around here
• There is nothing in the £180 - £210K range on the "right side" unless it needs full refurbishment. These are very rare but do come up now and again....I found one!

Good luck!