Housing Market Cooling Rapidly in London?

ladyabouttown

We managed to get a house in north London and have also been continuing to look to see what we've missed out on. Offered in mid March, exchanged at the beginning of June. In that 3 and half month period we've not come across anything remotely the same value, so glad we got this place and just in time it seems.

If the property websites are to be believed our house is worth £30-£40k more now...

BigAunty

ladyabouttown wrote: »

We managed to get a house in north London and have also been continuing to look to see what we've missed out on. Offered in mid March, exchanged at the beginning of June. In that 3 and half month period we've not come across anything remotely the same value, so glad we got this place and just in time it seems.

If the property websites are to be believed our house is worth £30-£40k more now...

Book mark this thread and come back in a year when the first interest rate rises have been introduced, and then the following year or two when further interest rate rises have been implemented, to tell us how much your property has increased in value...

harrys_dad

bouicca21 wrote: »

In my bit of London it was cooling even before the prospect of interest rate rises and new mortgage rules. Not to the extent of price drops though

So it is not cooling, it is just heating up more slowly.

Snakey

Here in W2 there's no sign of a slowdown. Everyone is saying "Prices are ridiculous! This can't go on! We're heading for a huge crash! Anyone buying now is buying at the top of the market and will lose everything!" (complete with all the exclamation marks - although even the most rabid has stopped well short of predicting revolution like some people on here) but then they were saying the same in 1999 when I first moved here and have not stopped saying it at any time since. Even in 2007 things barely paused for breath.

I had my offer accepted on this one at the end of January, and an identical flat (less work needed though) in the next block over has recently gone on the market for 18% more than I paid. It remains to be seen whether it will sell for that of course, but certainly seller and estate agent confidence is still there.

BigAunty

I imagine W2 in the Hyde Park/Kensington area has its own micro economic climate, perhaps extending to Zone 1, that makes it inured to the rest of the economy. Just a guess.

katejo

Maybe but I have noticed properties near me in E17 this week which appeared to be very overpriced but have sold (subject to contract) very fast.

anselld

There is another forum for [STRIKE]pointless speculation[/STRIKE] debate about house prices.

ladyabouttown

BigAunty wrote: »

Book mark this thread and come back in a year when the first interest rate rises have been introduced, and then the following year or two when further interest rate rises have been implemented, to tell us how much your property has increased in value...

Don't care if value goes up or down, unless it went up enough for me to sell and buy a perfect house in a sunny country with enough money to retire...

Also there is no guarantee interest rates will rise... besides a 0.25% or 0.5% rise won't do much...

BigAunty

ladyabouttown wrote: »

Also there is no guarantee interest rates will rise... besides a 0.25% or 0.5% rise won't do much...

They don't add much onto a typical mortgage, though they are the first of many rises.

However, like the stock market, property prices are subject to emotion not just logical responses.

Flagging up the end of absurdly low interest rates could cause a disproportionate over-reaction - it rattles the market.

Snakey

BigAunty wrote: »

I imagine W2 in the Hyde Park/Kensington area has its own micro economic climate, perhaps extending to Zone 1, that makes it inured to the rest of the economy. Just a guess.

Are you refining your "the bubble's gonna burst!" hypothesis to exclude the whole of central London? That's a relief.