Who are buying now?

Rover

Nonsense Generali, everything is rosy. House prices only go up.
PS. did you see the the Independant's front page.

Generali

Rover wrote: »

Nonsense Generali, everything is rosy. House price only go up.

House prices could still go up from here, even in real terms. I think we're most likely to enter a stand off that will only end if the economy goes down the pan.

Rover wrote: »

PS. did you see the the Independant's front page.

TBH, I was more worried by what was on the front page of the FT. I've got a really nasty feeling that Citibank have broken the Golden Rule* this time. They love to 'push the envelope' (as corporate types like to say) but I think they may have got it all very badly wrong.











*Golden rule - don't eff it up.

CYBERCIDERSAVER

I just think most people who have property aren't being forced to sell, unlike the early 90's with all the job losses after a decade of careful Conservative stewardship of the economy!

and until a significant drop does occurr, most BTLs are still gonna be in the black from the gains they have made up to this point so aren't currently scared and running for the hills, just watching the market carefully.

Which is the same position as the FTBs. Wait and watch. Hence no crash, just a stagnation.

Of course the one area that will suffer is car dealerships. Where is the money for new private cars gonna come from if people can't remortgage and release extra capital??

And Benidorm may be quiet next year... although maybe just cos it's a sh@%$ole

m00m00

there are still plenty of people out there with the 'must get on the ladder at any costs mentality'

Rover

My interpretation is HPI has been nothing more than an intricate pyramid scam. And unbelievably some are still buying into it!!!!
Currently those that fueled and ramped it are getting bitten very hard in the US and Europe - unfortunately it will filter down to all of us soon.

movilogo

there are still plenty of people out there with the 'must get on the ladder at any costs mentality'

This is because common public still believe that price can only go up! And they also believe that price can fall max 1-2% and that's hardly worth waiting for.

towl

Well, for what its worth, I am in the process of buying a property, but I don't think that prices will only ever go up. I personally belive that they will come down over the next 18 months to 2 years by up to 20%.

So why am I buying?

Well we are currently renting, and are in our 3rd rental house in 18 months, after our first house being sold whilst in it, the second one having a useless land lord, and now the third one is also looking to sell up.

We are sick of moving home every 6 months, and yes we have been unfortunate, but we want our own place, we have a new baby, and want to give him a settled upbringing.

The house we are buying, we envisage being in for the next 10-15 years, as it has more than enough room already, with the possibility to extend if required.

Yes if the market turns It will cost me financially, but I put a higher price on my family's happiness over everything else, and that is why we are buying.

m00m00

towl wrote: »

Well, for what its worth, I am in the process of buying a property, but I don't think that prices will only ever go up. I personally belive that they will come down over the next 18 months to 2 years by up to 20%.

So why am I buying?

Well we are currently renting, and are in our 3rd rental house in 18 months, after our first house being sold whilst in it, the second one having a useless land lord, and now the third one is also looking to sell up.

We are sick of moving home every 6 months, and yes we have been unfortunate, but we want our own place, we have a new baby, and want to give him a settled upbringing.

The house we are buying, we envisage being in for the next 10-15 years, as it has more than enough room already, with the possibility to extend if required.

Yes if the market turns It will cost me financially, but I put a higher price on my family's happiness over everything else, and that is why we are buying.

and this is an excellent example of a rational house buyer at the moment

sadly you will be in the minority

Jonbvn

.....and this is an excellent example of a rational [strike]house[/strike] home buyer at the moment.

pamaris

We are holding off buying for now... I don't see how the market can survive this credit crunch... it has to spill over into the mortgage market... which will affect the amounts the banks are willing to lend/ i.e. how much capital one has available for a house purchase.

We plan to feel out the market late summer 2008 and buy if we can. At the moment we could buy something, but our choices are either get an appropriate house in a ghetto or an inappropriate house in our current area. We could probably even buy an OK house in our current area, but the mortgage would cripple us.

Oh and before anyone starts about FTB expectations... my expectations are low and I do not expect a 4 BR detached on the hillside. If my kids were the same gender I would go for a 2 BR but they're not so we need 3 BR. FWIW we're not even first time buyers... we'll be 3rd time buyers but we moved to the UK from a low HPI area and only have a FTB size deposit.

Going off on tangents now... but anyway... no we are not buying right now.

ETA: Over the past 4 to 6 weeks, the rightmove figures for my area have gone from 19 out of 38 total 2 & 3 BR houses listed under 150k having offers/ sstc to 17 out of 56 houses listed under 150k having offers. For the 150 to 170k price band, it has gone from 29 out of 54 to 21 out of 65 available properties being under offer/ sstc... so... more inventory and less offers. Very few have been reduced and if they are reduced it is not by much but there are more properties coming on at lower prices... and less transactions being completed.