Housing market continues to slow....

sabbykins

We are thinking of buying this year. Do you think we should wait till the end of the year or even until next year for the prices to fall?

I am a complete novice at all this stuff so i need all the advice i can get

zAndy1

Isn't there something coming in whereby first time buyers can buy a share of a property with the government or something. By all accounts that should stimulate the market and potentially cause prices to start rising again. At the moment it's definitely a buyers market so if you can afford to buy now while prices are low I'd go for it to be honest, you should be able to get a good mortgage deal at the moment too. If you leave it until next year you're risking that first time buyer influence pushing up prices. Are you first time buyers and if so is the deal that was announced in the budget something that might help you?

sabbykins

Thanks for the reply.:)
In answer to your question, yes, we are first time buyers and its a council property we are in. We have lived here for 23 years so should get the full discount.

Not sure how the sharing thing actually works, i will have to read up on it to see if it will benefit us or not. We are learning what all the different kinds of mortgages are at the moment, and my head hurts, lol.:eek:

Joe_Bloggs

It would be a good idea to organise your savings so that you can afford a sufficient deposit that may help you qualify for any future/existing scheme. Your deposit in a house represents equity and around 5 to 10 % tends to get you a better interest rate from lenders. Check your credit reports from Experian and Equifax as mortgage refusal due to poor credit history/mistakes in your files can be a problem.

From the statistics that lenders publish it seems that the rate of increase in house prices has fallen to around 4% per annum. The trend is on the way down month by month and may well be negative in the future. These figures are suspect as the remaining equity is held by the lenders and they may prefer to put a spin on figures as it is their assets that are are exposed. There are numerous regional variations as it is a free market, if you have the savings/equity to be a player.

It may be a good idea to wait and consider your options. Monitor sales in your location if you can.
J_B.

meanmachine_2

Yeah, it's looking certain now that most property indices will turn negative by the autumn, and you can be sure the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates around this time, if they can, in a desperate attempt to support the market.

But you can also be sure that, at the same time that these banks and lenders announce falls in house prices, they'll also start spinning that it's "never been a better time to buy" just like this zandy1 guy has done.

Don't believe it for a second. Buying property just as it's starting to fall in price.... Sounds like the worst time to me.

And as for this Gordon Brown bribe scheme, at most it'll help 5% of the poorest FTBers - who are exactly the last type of people that should be encouraged into a massively overvalued market. But that's always been the way I'm afraid. In any bubble, the most vulnerable are the last in and the first to suffer.

But then, what do I know? I'm just an ignoramous who's never bought property. And until they fall by at least 30% NEVER will.

nelly_2

meanmachine wrote:

I'm just an ignoramous who's never bought property. And until they fall by at least 30% NEVER will.

same here mate!

deemy2004

Patience !

Its going to take time, but the trend is in the right direction for FTB's

One of the stats I look at is how many properties are unsold in a local property auction.

Well I have to tell you the last auction in May there were 13 unsold out of 35 lots !

In the past at the height of the bull run, there would not be any !!!

If you can't dump at the auction then where will sellers sell ???

So FTB's hold your nerve ! and BE PATIENT !

meanmachine_2

I'm more than willing to be patient.

I've set my limit - a property currently on the market for £185K will have to fall to £130K before I'll think about buying.

I won't care if it falls a little below that, as it's impossible to call the bottom of any market, but £130K is sort of back to a reasonable level of affordability.

Of course, by that time banks won't even allow you to borrow more than 3.5x your income, so I won't have much choice!

I'd rather still buy when prices are falling than wait for the bottom and go back in when it's a rising (ie a seller's) market, just to avoid trhe stresses and competiton that that brings.

The problem is, I'm as susceptible to greed as the next man. And I just know I'll try to hold off as long as I can.

I notice that in today's Mail on Sunday, Jonathan Maitland, a famed BTLer is selling up and getting out. Think he's left it 12 months too late, but I can completely understand why. Provided he sells, he's made a packet in the last few years and, of course, doesn't think there's any more money to be made from property. Of course, he hasn't made a penny until the contracts are exchanged.

EdInvestor

... it's looking certain now that most property indices will turn negative by the autumn...

Is it? Sure about that? I'm hearing the opposite.

meanmachine_2

Editor wrote:

... it's looking certain now that most property indices will turn negative by the autumn...

Is it? Sure about that? I'm hearing the opposite.

Really? Who from?

You have access to data from the future?

Because all I have to go on are current trends. I draw a line from point A to point B and see that, by September y-o-y house inflation will be negative.

What data are you looking at?