First time buyer confusion

leerenee78

My partner and I have just had our first mortgage agreed and would have been ready to move in May, had the corona virus not hit. We are now worried as the housing market looks as though it could go into free fall and we’re very worried about buying a house that could end up with negative equity and never recover. Should we go ahead? No contracts have been exchanged yet. 

MovingForwards

There's a stack of these posts on the forum, have a read through as a lot of information is provided, this will allow you to assess your own circumstances.

ACG

This is a common theme at the moment but:
1) There is no evidence house prices will drop. We are still getting enquiries and so are a few other brokers and agents I know. 
2) There is a possibility house prices could go up - if people do not list, there are people who still want to buy. Supply and demand. Admittedly this is unlikely but who knows.
3) There has not really been any mass redundancies like there were in 2007. So the market is very different to then.
4) All of our purchasers so far seem to be holding firm in their transaction, we have not had anyone pull out yet, which is a good indication that we still have a strong market in my opinion.

Ultimately though, you need to do what is right for you. 

[Deleted User]

You will get two very distinctive different views on here. 

1. From those in the business who have a vested interest in prices not dropping and business as normal
2. Others who have owned properties for years and invested and seen prices rise and fall, and then long term in certain areas increase by quite a lot. 

I am in camp two, but I would not even hazard a guess as to what is going to happen in the long term. There may well be a shortage but that could of viable buyers when many are laid off and unemployment increases. 

These are unprecedented times. Me personally would not be buying right at this minute unless I absolutely had to 

Thrugelmir

ACG said:

3) There has not really been any mass redundancies like there were in 2007. So the market is very different to then.

This crisis is far more reaching. The extent of the damage can only be assessed fully in the months to come. So far a few minutes has past.