House prices ....again.......

Colin_Kee

Oh...taking delight at the 90 plus percent who aren't speculators or?

Sad really that you would cheer at other peoples misfortune.

Parisien wrote: »

Way of the world.......speculators have always been around...fact of life....again.....95% of the population loose because of the decline.

You don't happen to be one of these speculators?? Sounds like it!!

I really highly doubt that 95% of the population have moved house in the last two years to leave them in a situation where they are going to "loose out".

The only people who will loose out are those who have moved recently and have paid top price for a property which wasn't really worth it in the first place. People who haven't moved or sold up and have seen their house price rise dramatically over the past two years are far from loosing out!! The number you refer to as "loosing out" may be only a low single figure percentage of the population. Besides, as talksalot says, what about the poor folk who can't afford to even get on the property ladder because ofthe high prices, I have more sympathy for them than someone who's decided to cash in on an overpriced property to get themselves in more debt (Stupidly may I add considering Interest rates are going up and a drop in prices was always on the cards. Those are the breaks in life too!!)

leftieM

Parisien wrote: »

.....95% of the population loose because of the decline.

It depends on how you see it. If, giving my example, I have a house that I bought for 80k and it was worth 235k at its peak but now is worth 140k, have I lost 95k or gained 60k? I think the latter. You think the former.

Parisien

Colin_Kee wrote: »

You don't happen to be one of these speculators?? Sounds like it!!

Nope...you jump to conclusions too fast!.....never bought a house or home in NI to speculate...or anywhere else!

The 95k loss is hyperbolae.......not a good example. In real terms it would be an absolute loss if it was relative to the whole market, not just NI....eg if you wanted to move out of the region.

No, again big numbers will loose out, because there is less equity in their homes and gives them less financial leverage/ security...not just from when the want to move.

The market will decline/has declined....but not hugely nor in one fell swoop...IMHO.

talksalot81

Parisien wrote: »

Way of the world.......speculators have always been around...fact of life....again.....95% of the population loose because of the decline.

Where on earth have you found that little bit of nonsense?! 95% lose due to the decline - you cannot just state that without support. The mathematical stance is that increasing house prices mean the bottom of the ladder is harder to reach (i.e. FTBs lose out) and the rungs are further spaced (i.e. 'traders up' lose out). If prices fall, it is easier for FTBs to get a house and it is easier for those on the ladder to move further up. So your statement defies logic I am afraid. In the case of a decline, investors lose out and a very small (relative) number of 'normal buyers' (who were naive enough to buy at the top) lose out. I would hazard to suggest that it is nearer to 95% of the population BENEFIT from a decline in house prices.

talksalot81

Parisien wrote: »

less financial leverage/ security...not just from when the want to move

But this is one of the fundamental problems! Part of the reason we have found ourselves in such a hazardous situation is the use of a home like a piggy bank. The loss of this ability is not a decrease in an individuals financial security because the money they might have extracted from their home was not theirs! It was debt. The decline in the market stops people getting into so much debt. That is a good thing, not bad.

leftieM

Some people haven't seen the writing on the wall yet.
I'm aware of a situation where a house went on the market for 210k in the spring and went to sale agreed very quickly. A few months down the line the house was up for sale again with the original agent for 210k and with another for 230k. Now it's up for auction with a guide price of 227k (which is the minimum a seller expects to get). In their dreams.
If you have some sympathy for the seller it may be reduced when you hear that he and his wife were selling with the intention of pretending to split up so that wife can get another council house and they can buy that, thus profiting twice from the right to buy scheme. Naughty.

bingobangobongo

For someone who bought their first house in January of this year all this speculation is quite frightening. I worry if I have bought at the wrong time and if the prices drop drastically I will be in negative equity.
Would it be foolish to try and sell my house after 7 months (assuming it would sell), and to bank the profit until the prices drop. Or am I just panicking?

championmongo1

I put my house on the market at the very end of June as my better half and I are moving to England as she got a great job offer and her family are there. It's in Carrick on a private lane and was valued at between £167k and £170k but I decided to put it on at offers around £165k and have only had two veiwings and no offers. My better half has moved to England already and it is putting our finances at great risk because we are now paying for two properties (she is renting an apartment). Another house at the end of my lane just went on the market on Friday for £160k but externally it appears to need some work whereas as ours has just been completely re-decorated and had a new kitchen, etc. fitted. Should I drop the price again, try to rent it out at a loss or is it just a matter of waiting for it to sell?

My current mortgage deal expires in January and we are due to get married next August and I would hate for us to spend the first part of out married lives apart, thus any ideas on what we should do would be greatly received.;)

leftieM

Bingobangobongo we're all thinking the same! It's a punt as there are heaps of houses on the market. If you tried to sell you'd probably have to undercut the opposition to get a sale and then it may fall through if the market falls and your buyer decides they've paid too much.
If you like where you live and you can afford the repayments then over time the price, if it falls, will rise again. However if you aren't happy then it may be worth thinking about getting out. It's too late to bag the maximum profit however.
Good luck. At the end of the day, what does anyone really know? We're all just amateurs guessing. Even so-called experts mess up so what chance does your ordinary joe have? Financial mistakes are often only obvious on hindsight, which means they weren't really mistakes to begin with.

IvanOpinion

bingobangobongo wrote: »

For someone who bought their first house in January of this year all this speculation is quite frightening. I worry if I have bought at the wrong time and if the prices drop drastically I will be in negative equity.

Would it be foolish to try and sell my house after 7 months (assuming it would sell), and to bank the profit until the prices drop. Or am I just panicking?

I think you will find that at the minute houses are very slow to shift. House prices are generally not (yet) falling, they are just rising at a much lesser rate or have stagnated. At the minute it appears there are very few buyers about so maybe now is not a good time to sell.If you are happy in your house and you have no real intentions of moving for a few years then you will overall probably gain. A friend of mine was convinced the maket had peaked a few years back and (despite rest of us saying he was mad) he sold up, banked a significant sum of money and moved into rented accomodation ... today he could not even afford to buy his old house back (he has lost out big time).Ivan