Is anyone else currently buying in London? Isn't the frenzy putting you off?

padington

There is almost zero chance in my mind houses in London in cycling distance of kings cross are going to go down over a five year period from here. Immigration and more easily available mortgages are going to increasingly ramp demand and supply wise, there just isn't anywhere else to build houses. I think houses anywhere near Central London are going to rocket and keep rocketing. They will become a global prestige luxury asset and have absolutely no relation to average income etc.

Ther only long term term risk I can see is terrorism / natural disaster. A dirty bomb would cause prices to crash below where they are now but even then, city's are the most resilient thing man has ever built. They usually can endure every kind of man made attack and a good lot of natural ones too and live for sometimes hundreds of thousands of years.

A freehold house near Central London will be one the wisest and safest things you could buy for your family today in my mind.

Also UK plc is now on a real upswing it seems and the captains at the ship seem to be desperate to create a boom. Not necessarily wise but neither the time to be expecting a bust. What I would say is don't buy in two/ three years time, that could be very poor timing, do it now if you can afford it.

Also don't forget on January the 1s, 28 million more people get to live in the Uk if they so wish ....

AndyGuil

shortchanged wrote: »

What happens when the majority are priced out?

With regards to HPI that doesn't matter. As long as people are still buying then they will keep rising. London properties aren't for the majority of the population price-wse. You are in a better position if you work in London and you earn more, eventually you will get enough deposit to get a property. A couple on an average London salary can easily afford a place. Clearly the demand is hugely greater than the available properties.

padington

Carney suggests things are on the up and the bank of England's job isn't to interfere with London's house price rises, only to care about the country as a whole...

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/13/bank-of-england-inflation-report-and-uk-unemployment-data-live

More bullish news for London.

AlexMac

There's never a right time, so I'd jump now if you can and want to. And as regards prices- yes, it's indecent but unavoidable; we've benefitted from hysterical inflation but the kids and grandchildren had to move out 100 miles to find a decent affordable home for their growing family- at least it's an excuse for us to spend a couple of nights in a seaside hotel, visting every month

padington

AndyGuil wrote: »

With regards to HPI that doesn't matter. As long as people are still buying then they will keep rising. London properties aren't for the majority of the population price-wse. You are in a better position if you work in London and you earn more, eventually you will get enough deposit to get a property. A couple on an average London salary can easily afford a place. Clearly the demand is hugely greater than the available properties.

The foreign buyers are an issue but seeing as housing is one of our best export markets and London property is becoming a global reserve currency of sorts which is a bittersweet opportunity most other countries would love to enjoy, is it really wise to kill it off ?

That will be one of Labours hardest questions to answer. My bet is that Ed will temper the market ever so slightly for political effect by raising more foreigner housing taxes perhaps but that will in the end only make prices rise even more just like how taxes on beer only make beer more expensive. Then he will build more houses outside of London with the money (because vandalising the green belt would jeopardise London's reserve currency status and be political suicide ) and this would make the London city state even more desirable.

AndyGuil

padington wrote: »

The foreign buyers are an issue but seeing as housing is one of our best export markets and London property is becoming a global reserve currency of sorts which is a bittersweet opportunity most other countries would love to enjoy, is it really wise to kill it off ?

That will be one of Labours hardest questions to answer. My bet is that Ed will temper the market ever so slightly for political effect by raising more foreigner housing taxes perhaps but that will in the end only make prices rise even more just like how taxes on beer only make beer more expensive. Then he will build more houses outside of London with the money (because vandalising the green belt would jeopardise London's reserve currency status and be political suicide ) and this would make the London city state even more desirable.

I doubt they want to kill it off. I can't see it being supported either. They will just let it be for the benefit of the taxes they get and the fact that the investments are being dnoe in a way that is sustainable. They are typically for the long term, often providing housing for renting and may even be renovation involved.

There isn't a lot of space to build in London so that reinforces the scarcity of supply.

lissliss

sterl1ng wrote: »

With asking prices being offered 10% over I'm starting to wonder whether to just hold until frenzy calms down. Plus i'm getting worried I could end up in negative equity.

Right now i'm looking in south croydon, and with east croydon having excellent transport links, as well as regeneration I there's a high demand for 2 bed property. Whilst I'm still looking (now also looking at 1 beds) I'm starting to wonder if I should just hang on to see what happens what dust settles.....but when will it settle!

We're having a terrible time as first-time buyers trying to buy a two bed place in east london (anywhere from leyton to forest gate, East ham etc) at the moment. All of the properties we've offered on have gone for at least ten per cent above already high asking prices. We saw one two bed house in leyton go for over 55k above the 245k asking price. It needed a fair amount of work doing to it too.

Looking at the land registry figures for similar houses in these areas prices seem to be up at least 15 per cent on just a few months ago. We've been offering fairly cautiously (under our budget but still well over asking price) as we fear ending up with a gap between what we've offered and what the bank is prepared to lend when the mortgage valuation comes around. I'm wondering how the surveyors are assessing values in london these days with prices rising so rapidly and so many offers being the result of bidding wars? Has anyone had an issue recently with london property being "undervalued" by the bank?

Beige

I'm wondering how the surveyors are assessing values in london these days with prices rising so rapidly and so many offers being the result of bidding wars? Has anyone had an issue recently with london property being "undervalued" by the bank?

This is a great question - we have the mortgage survey on a place we're buying on Monday and wondering the same thing.

browneyedbazzi

lissliss wrote: »

Looking at the land registry figures for similar houses in these areas prices seem to be up at least 15 per cent on just a few months ago. We've been offering fairly cautiously (under our budget but still well over asking price) as we fear ending up with a gap between what we've offered and what the bank is prepared to lend when the mortgage valuation comes around. I'm wondering how the surveyors are assessing values in london these days with prices rising so rapidly and so many offers being the result of bidding wars? Has anyone had an issue recently with london property being "undervalued" by the bank?

That's something I worried about with our purchase because we offered over asking and there weren't any very recent entries on the land registry for the road...our valuation came back at more than the accepted offer though :beer:

I wonder if they have access to sales information that isn't yet publicly available?

Beige

I wonder if they have access to sales information that isn't yet publicly available?

I think I'll be giving the surveyor a call no matter what they come back with.

I'm not hoping for a high valuation, so much as a correct one, and if him talking me through it helps me understand the value then that can only be a good thing.