London is a joke (moan)

AdrianC

quidsy wrote: »

allow people the basic right to own their own home.

So I'd guess you're strongly in favour of extending right to buy not just to HA properties, but to private lettings?

Cornucopia

quidsy wrote: »

The negative equity issues isn't my problem.

It will be if it triggers another financial crisis.

If they weren't so greedy as to buy up all the reasonable priced properties maybe they wouldn't have negative equity. They certainly aren't complaining at the massive increase the lack of available purchase property has added to their value are they?

Neither of those statements reflect "how it works". Initially, people buy what they can afford. Most buyers are constrained on affordability, whether you accept that or not.

When people move on they need to realise as much capital from the old property as they can, because they are constrained on affordability on the new one.

Like I said, your opinion, my opinion. I look at this purely from a buyers viewpoint.

That's clear, but seeing the bigger picture will aid your understanding and your credibility.

quidsy

That's clear, but seeing the bigger picture will aid your understanding and your credibility.


Oh dear. Another one who thinks they know it all. You know nothing of me or my understanding, I am making short comments on a web forum based on a single issue. Get your head out of your backside.

quidsy

AdrianC wrote: »

So I'd guess you're strongly in favour of extending right to buy not just to HA properties, but to private lettings?

You "guess" this based on ???

AdrianC

Cornucopia wrote: »

It will be if it triggers another financial crisis.

There's also the question of how people like Quidsy are going to get mortgages if the lenders have just made such mahoosive losses...

Digsby

Cornucopia wrote: »

You believe something different to them though? They believe that the whole on-going market is over-priced and will inevitably crash, whereas you seem to be talking solely about asking prices (which ultimately don't mean very much).

I believe it is a tragedy and an outrage that we have collectively allowed ourselves to walk into a situation where the market of buying and selling of a basic need is the most dangerous threat to our economy. I think it is inevitable that prices will adjust over a period, that may happen quickly or slowly.

I would prefer to see the government providing support for those who will find themselves in negative equity when that happens, than providing support for those who struggle to meet current prices.

Some HPCers might agree with all of that, some of it, or none.

Any examples?

I can't post links yet, but there's an article on Mortgage Insider, it's the top result if you google "asking prices no longer realistic".

I supposed some cash buyers may be paying too much, but people buying with mortgages will have to face the Valuation, which should address the issue.

I agree, Valuers should be preventing property being bought at overinflated prices, but I don't think the current environment supports that as an ideal very well.

Cash buyers make up the largest percentage of buyers ever at the moment. They outnumber both home movers, and first time buyers (but not together).

It's clear to me though that asking prices are not being met on the whole, because if they were, then the national annual HPI would be astonishingly high, more like 20% or 30% than the 5% or 6% it is at the moment.

Again, some examples would be useful.

I'll have to miss the first part of the addresses to get them through:

/property-for-sale/property-49546378.html

Bought October 2014 for £325k, prices have gone since, on the market at £465k. Nothing done to it - although, it is now on sale with shared freehold, and was previously sold as a leasehold, which is why my tool shows the tenure of previous sales to provide that information, which isn't otherwise easily available on the site.

/property-for-sale/property-51362858.html

Bought August 2014, the peak of the market in Lambeth, for £369k, now on sale for £515k. It's been refurbished, but £150k+ worth of refurbishment?

My popup window flags up properties that have been granted planning permission for major improvements since the last sale, those that would trigger a council tax re-valuation on sale.

/property-for-sale/property-48821872.html

Bought October 2014 for £334, now on sale at £450k, after refurbishment. Same comments as above.

/property-for-sale/property-51095318.html

Bought October 2014 for £275, prices have dropped by 1% since, on sale at £375k. Appears to have had no work done to it from the previous listing's photos, and the description doesn't mention any either.

/property-for-sale/property-49685242.html

Bought January 2014 for £197k, now on the market at £325k. No improvements appear to have been made.

It is good, basic advice, but I am not convinced that over-pricing is a major factor in the main part of the market. It simply cannot work because you would need to fool not just buyers but Valuers, too.

I suspect that if we looked into some examples, we'd find that either they were niche properties that were difficult to value, or there were factors outside the scope of your process which make the valuation reasonable (at a level permitting a certain amount of haggling).

We're talking about asking prices though, not sold prices. These properties, in general, cannot be fetching the asking prices because the offical statistics show they are not.

Of course, what is a reasonable asking price is somewhat subjective, and depends on all sorts of factors, and you can't blame sellers for selling for as much as possible.

Ultimately, for me as a buyer, the challenge is to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable asking prices, and especially to identify unreasonable asking prices where a reasonable price would be within my budget, because they may accept a much lower offer, or reduce the asking price in time to indicate that they are willing to be more reasonable.

To that end, I'm working on a new feature in the extension that lets you "watch" a property, which will alert you if the price changes, which I'm quite excited about for myself, as I do spend a lot of time revisiting listings I've already looked at or saved, to see if the price is any lower.

AdrianC

quidsy wrote: »

You "guess" this based on ???

Based on this "basic right" to own your own home.

AdrianC

Digsby wrote: »

Of course, what is a reasonable asking price is somewhat subjective, and depends on all sorts of factors, and you can't blame sellers for selling for as much as possible.

Ultimately, for me as a buyer, the challenge is to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable asking prices, and especially to identify unreasonable asking prices where a reasonable price would be within my budget, because they may accept a much lower offer, or reduce the asking price in time to indicate that they are willing to be more reasonable.

So how are you defining this "reasonable" asking price, other than as the price at which the vendor is willing to sell AND a buyer is willing to buy?

Digsby

AdrianC wrote: »

So how are you defining this "reasonable" asking price, other than as the price at which the vendor is willing to sell AND a buyer is willing to buy?

Well I've already alluded to the subject nature of that. A reasonable asking price, to me, is one that I deem to be reasonable on consideration.

But when the average asking price is £70k (referring to the mortgage insider article - I happen to disagree with the methodology and have calculated my own figure in the region of £40-50k) above the average selling price, the only conclusion you can make is that a decent proportion of asking prices are unrealistic, and therefore unreasonable, if the seller actually wants to make a sale.

AdrianC

Digsby wrote: »

Well I've already alluded to the subject nature of that. A reasonable asking price, to me, is one that I deem to be reasonable on consideration.

I seem to remember Humpty Dumpty had something to say on that logic.

But when the average asking price is £70k (referring to the mortgage insider article - I happen to disagree with the methodology and have calculated my own figure in the region of £40-50k) above the average selling price, the only conclusion you can make is that a decent proportion of asking prices are unrealistic, and therefore unreasonable, if the seller actually wants to make a sale.

Perhaps you would be so kind as to re-read the question I actually asked?