Crazy London prices

Lizling

I bought a 2-bedroom flat in SW16 just over a year ago for around £170k. If it had been in better condition it would have been an absolute maximum of £190k. A couple of months ago, one in the block next door sold for £290k and it's identical except for being fully decorated. That's over a 50% increase in a year :eek:

I'm not happy about it because several friends who were hoping to move in very nearby ended up buying a few miles away or gave up on the idea completely.

thequant

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

We had KFH over to value our 3 bed, top floor maisonette last week.

Last valuation I had about a year ago was somewhere between 300k-325k.

New valuation 400k-450k, which when pushed said for 'crunching numbers' purposes would confidently sell for £440k.

Obviously this is nice to hear, but houses have risen by 30% in my area too, so we still can't afford to upsize.

So we are potentially looking at Brighton as amazingly enough, we could probably afford a nice 3/4 bed house there now. I'd ruled it out previously as prices there always seemed steep too, but seems the craziness of London prices has made it a possibility.

My friend who I mentioned above accepted the 310k offer on her flat and is now buying a 3 bed, converted chapel on the Kent coast, which will leave her with a very small mortgage thank you very much.

Win for her.

I've been house hunting in my are for the past couple of years, (SW greater London), My area slowly recovered from the crash and I estimate that mine only recovered the losses in Sep last year.


Then it just seemed to explode, I started seeing properties come on 10-20% above peak, oct-nov started seeing 30-40%, this year have started seeing 50-60%


In my smugness I thought there is no way any of these would sell.


well I was totally and utterly wrong,


when I checked at the weekend.


Everything that was 10-30% has now gone.


Most of the 40% properties have sold.


and I'm now starting to see a trickle of the 50%+ properties going under off or sold STC.


The market has gone mad and when these sales start feeding through, we are going to have some pretty scary house price stats coming out.

Fraise

richemily wrote: »

I've just sold my one bed in north London zone 3/4. Thought they would say under £250k but put it on for £325k at EA recommendation. Had 25 viewers on open day, 11 offers and its sold for £360k. Totally nuts

Of course I can't afford anywhere else now too!!

Unless you had to sell it would have been better to have held onto it, all property in Greater London and the suburbs is going to keep going up. There will be dips every few years probably, but London always holds it price in the long run.

The other alternative (which many savvy people do), is they sell their inner London property for mega bucks, and then buy just a little further out on the outskirts. Best of both worlds. They're still on the outskirts of London, but can upsize or upgrade. In fact, many of the areas on the outskirts are more pleasant than inner London, they're greener and you get more space and bigger gardens too. It's fast trains into Central London, so travelling time into work is often much the same, plus the other extra factor is that because everyone is rushing to move that bit further out THOSE properties will catch up with the ones in Inner London.

It's a win win situation

Metranil_Vavin

OH is keen to try and find a way for us to hang onto our current place, and if we moved out of London it may be possible but would very much stretch us as we currently have a low mortgage to value.

It's hard to know what to do at times. I like where we live, and the area is most definitely improving, but with 2 kids now we really could do with a house as every room/space is full here and we have no room for people staying over.

hazyjo

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

It's hard to know what to do at times. I like where we live, and the area is most definitely improving, but with 2 kids now we really could do with a house as every room/space is full here and we have no room for people staying over.

Family and friends, you mean? Am sure it'd be cheaper to pay for the odd hotel room (if they'd even let you!) than pay for a bigger house to accommodate other people on an occasional basis.

A sofabed or blow up bed would surely suffice if they're that keen to actually stay with you? Kids' friends can always find room to sleep over, surely? Even a few cushions and a sleeping bag would be fun for them! I remember sharing beds with friends or we'd all crash on the floor or whatever if there were a lot of us!

Jx

pcgtron

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

OH is keen to try and find a way for us to hang onto our current place, and if we moved out of London it may be possible but would very much stretch us as we currently have a low mortgage to value.

It's hard to know what to do at times. I like where we live, and the area is most definitely improving, but with 2 kids now we really could do with a house as every room/space is full here and we have no room for people staying over.

This is what we did. Bought a smaller house outside than we really needed in the long term so we could keep flat in London and rent it out. It's now looking like a good decision as the flat has gone up in price by about £40,000 and we still haven't grown out of our 2 bed house (Although now having to look at a loft conversion)

At the moment, not regretting moving into a slightly cheaper place and keeping the london flat

Metranil_Vavin

To be honest it's more OH wanting a 'boys toys' room for all his musical equipment which is currently gathering dust in our loft and his parents garage!

I think we have enough space for now, but as the kids get bigger it'll get more tricky. Our garden is ridiculously un-child friendly.

BigAunty

Remember how in the previous alleged bubble, some people sold up and moved into rented accommodation or postponed buying, anticipating a huge fall in prices. Wasn't there even a forum (House Price Crash or similar?) set up?

yes, there was some flattening and softening in some areas but the price rises generally continued unabated.

Just over 3 years ago, I sold up in London after a mini price wobble there. My property sold very quickly at the upper end of what the estate agent predicted after just a few viewings.

I had feedback from one viewer who suggested it was only worth £250k in her opinion (it was on the market for about 370k). I noted that she never went ahead with that silly offer but I was still initially worried. When I performed a search for properties in that price range, at most I could find was okay small 2 beds/1 bathroom properties in the not nice part of town, flats or grotty places that needed major refurbishment. I was offering an immaculate 3 bed/2 bath place (the previous owner was an architect that had it redesigned) with newly landscaped garden, new roof, new heating system.

Bet she's still going round places like that now. Just had a look at one place in my old street has just sold for £425k despite it being ex-local authority, in a high crime area where the riots and looting took place. That's double the price that houses were fetching in the street 10 years ago. Mental.

[Deleted User]

No housing boom in the North though and still a slow market, well done to the Government for looking after their own though...

hazyjo

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

To be honest it's more OH wanting a 'boys toys' room for all his musical equipment which is currently gathering dust in our loft and his parents garage!

I think we have enough space for now, but as the kids get bigger it'll get more tricky. Our garden is ridiculously un-child friendly.

You'll probably find it's cheaper to convert the loft than move to a substantially bigger property. Worth considering?

Jx