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

tara747

luv-my-job wrote: »

"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:

:rotfl:

And prices down 34% on average throughout NI in 2008. I for one am glad to see it. Hopefully they will fall to proper sensible levels in 2009 (because, let's face it, they are still overpriced).

thriftyminx13

Honestly, I think its all dependent on whether a) you can afford repayments on the mortgage and b) whether you think he price you are offering is fair for the property.

As long as you don't intend to move short-term and see it as a long-term investment I think bargains are to be had, particularly in houses or developments that are near 10 years old because the original prices that these were bought for and if they were to still sell they is likely to be profit for the sellers and as long as they have a profit I think they are more likely to consider a sale.

Also, as horrible as this is, auctions and re-possessions by banks. banks are desperate for any return on money. Buy-to-let owners or second home owners are looking rid of their portfolios too.

Smaller settlements seem to be selling more houses around me, maybe because they were never as over-inflated in value.

Check propertysnake.co.uk and enter postcode of area you are interested in to see the price fall. those in purple indicate the most recent decrease in price.

All in all, I can see why my friends are looking because they have deposits saved, want their own space and know prices may come down but are impatient because the longer they wait the more likely they'll have competitors for property. At this stage they can offer a price much lower than asking price and haggle. Its a buyers market. It also depends on your job security.

All I can tell you is this is what is happening amongst my friends (27-30 years old).

tara747 wrote: »

And what do you think?

liz-paul

So what is a reasonable price for a house then? Having seen a lot of people on this board & others say they are glad to see a fall in property prices & hope to see a further fall to make house prices reasonable I'm curious to know what is reasonable? Having grown up in london I thought £82500 for our nice 3 bed semi was ridiculously cheap in 2003 but I also thought that £212000 for our neighbours house in 2007 was ridiculously expensive. Now I 'think' our house is worth around £140000 which I think is pretty good but am curious to know what others think....

leftieM

I don't know what a good price for a house is. Probably like everyone here who is in a position to buy, I think that if I wait I'll get a better house for my money. So there is no 'good' price for a house at the moment.
Currently house price levels are back to Spring 2006. That was during the mega boom so there's still plenty of scope for further falls.

thriftyminx13

Yeah I think there is some scope still but not much longer for houses outside Belfast. And already i read some buy-to-let people are buying property again because they are making more money than what the mortgage costs. I hope this isn't true because its what puts prices up for the FTB.

leftieM

thriftyminx13 wrote: »

And already i read some buy-to-let people are buying property again because they are making more money than what the mortgage costs. I hope this isn't true because its what puts prices up for the FTB.

I wouldn't sweat too much about that. A lot of the latecomers to the market were ordinary people who didn't know much about the housing market and released equity from their own house to fund a purchase. They won't go near the market now. Secondly, if people are buying properties now based on current lending conditions they are very naive. They have an illiquid asset in a market where demand for that asset has fallen off a cliff and the value of that asset is falling. So when interest rates rise again and their costs rise with it they will not be in a position to off-load the house if they need to.

tara747

leftieM wrote: »

I wouldn't sweat too much about that. A lot of the latecomers to the market were ordinary people who didn't know much about the housing market and released equity from their own house to fund a purchase. They won't go near the market now. Secondly, if people are buying properties now based on current lending conditions they are very naive. They have an illiquid asset in a market where demand for that asset has fallen off a cliff and the value of that asset is falling. So when interest rates rise again and their costs rise with it they will not be in a position to off-load the house if they need to.

Well said.

rjh090384

are there any homeswap type websites over here like they have in england?

thriftyminx13

rjh090384 wrote: »

are there any homeswap type websites over here like they have in england?

they are some listed on gumtree/belfast privately.

Pythagorous

The girl in MCW/PJ rang me the other day to tell me their business is currently booming :rotfl: