Is it too late to sell a house in Northern Ireland???

thriftyminx13

My friend just bought a house, and another put an offer on one recently too, lawrencetown. seems to be more movement amongst my friends and also my brothers friends. a lot of them think that prices wont go much lower.

tara747

luv-my-job wrote: »

Has anyone noticed any SOLD signs starting to pop up lately? I've seen 2 this week!

No, TBH. I have, however, seen ongoing large reductions in price.

cifpower

Apropos of houses, I have noticed an awful lot of "to rent" signs round where I live in Belfast; and they aren't shifting that quick. One opposite me has been to rent for 2 months

luv-my-job

Seems like a wee tiny bit of movement then, which has to be better than none! But I agree about the "for rent" signs too ... have noticed LOADS of those.

I reckon house prices still haven't reached (anywhere near) their lowest yet so anyone dropping their price to sell are prob doing the right thing, as prices are most definately NOT going anywhere but down , for the next year or 2 (at least). Whatever you get now will be more than you'll get 3,6,9 months from now..

tara747

Just saw on UTV news... Nationwide said that house prices fell here by 34% in 2008!!!!

I for one am glad to see the trend. Let us see the day when ordinary working people can afford to buy a home. 2009 will be very interesting. I'm sure the people who are actually achieving sales are reducing their prices like mad and accepting offers possibly even lower. They are doing the right thing, as you say.

tara747

thriftyminx13 wrote: »

My friend just bought a house, and another put an offer on one recently too, lawrencetown. seems to be more movement amongst my friends and also my brothers friends. a lot of them think that prices wont go much lower.

And what do you think?

chunter

ballyblack wrote: »

Full Belfast Tele article


"House prices are going up"





The headline you thought you wouldn't see in 2008


Tuesday, January 15, 2008
By Helen Carson

House sales in Northern Ireland are set to increase this year - confounding predictions of a slump.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says there will be a resurgence in the province's housing market with property transactions set to rise.

And this is welcome news for beleaguered sellers who have witnessed a market dominated by price slashing and 'gazundering.'
Gazundering is the practice were a buyer agrees a price only to drop it before contracts are exchanged and has been rife in the past seven months.
In some cases properties were withdrawn from the market as buyers were offering less than the asking price - a total turnaround from the bidding wars and spiralling prices of 2006.
Some properties fell in price by up to £20,000 on their value at the peak of the house price boom in January 2007.
Average prices in Northern Ireland fell by 0.2% during the last three months of 2007, according to Nationwide, which led the lender to predict a 4% fall in prices over the coming year.
However, RICS now predicts the market will remain buoyant - with average prices expected to return to an upward trend in the next 12 months.
The province enjoyed the highest annual house price growth in the UK during 2007, at 24.2% - or £120 a day.
"Northern Ireland experienced massive house price growth in 2006 and 2007 driven by a perceived lack of supply, a burgeoning economy and investor enthusiasm," said Mr Tom McClelland, housing spokesperson for RICS Northern Ireland.
"House prices grew rapidly from a low base, supported by increasing confidence in a society more at peace with itself and a strong jobs market."
While growth is not expected to match the levels seen over the last two years, transactions will increase and the market will remain strong, according to RICS.
"The market changed considerably during the course of 2007 and the new reality is a market where agents have to work harder to achieve sales and sellers have to be more realistic about asking prices," added Mr McClelland.
He said: "We anticipate that transaction numbers will increase in the first half of 2008, supported by the recent interest rate cut and potential cuts in the coming months."
Indeed, a slowing of the market could prove beneficial to some groups.
"Ultimately first-time buyers could benefit from the change in the market. With investor activity having declined, there is less competition for properties in the sector of the market within the first-time buyer's budget."
And industry sources are still predicting interest rate drops for later in the year, despite the Bank of England freezing the base rate at 5.5% last week.

I wonder if Mr Tom McClelland still has a job..

chunter

"According to the University of Ulster, the average price of a house in mid-Ulster has fallen by 43.9 per cent in the past 12 months"
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2008/1223/1229728474744.html

luv-my-job

"We anticipate that transaction numbers will increase in the first half of 2008"

:rotfl: Well that won't be hard, considering they were almost non existant in recent months :rolleyes:

liz-paul

Wish houses would move round here soon, we'd love to move (been wanting to move for 2 years) but don't think our house will sell when we put it on the market even though our asking price will be around a third off the peak value.... I also don't think prices will drop much further in our town as there will be very few people who are forced to sell & everyone else will just hang on. But who knows.....