Is it stupid to buy a house right now?

Crashy_Time

Davesnave said:

Crashy_Time said:

Davesnave said:

jimbog said:

Not 'stupid' if it is the right decision for you in your circumstances at this moment

This is it in a nutshell. You know your circumstances, so ought to be able to judge the suitability of the house for long term occupation and your likely ability to pay for it. None of us can do that for you. Everyone's life includes an element of uncertainty, but that's not necessarily a reason for following 'jam tomorrow' doctrines. For some, tomorrow never comes.

Sounds like you really don`t want hard working people to get their Jam as far as decently priced property goes? 

No, they can speculate on the right place being available at any point in the future, and in the current economic climate they might well save money. What I want is for people to recognise the subtleties of markets, which may stymie their plans if there are specific kinds of price movements

This isn't based on theory, but what happened when the affordability of a certain type of property altered while we planned ahead. Two years from when we decided in principle to make a move, we returned to view the market and found ourselves priced-out.

It's quite possible property won't fall uniformly, or that it will  hold its price, or even increase in certain places, but I don't know what type of house the OP wants, or where it is.

."Hard working people" ? Nice sound bite phrase, generally much disliked by...um.. hard working people!

There isn`t much subtlety involved though, cheap credit is pumped in, sentiment decides it can only go one way and then we have a massive bubble, withdraw the cheap credit by asking for higher deposits and sentiment turns and you get the opposite i.e the bubble bursts and everyone involved feels some pain. Even when the bubble is going full steam the only real beneficiaries are people downsizing....and of course the banks.

Grabs39

It's really reassuring to hear some of you say go for it! Buying a house, especially for the first time is scary and I've got a million 'What if's?' running around in my head. 

If it’s right for you, go for it.

We got our chain in place in February and moved at the end of May; it was a nervous time, as I was put on Furlough for two months and I’ve lost all my overtime.  We’d bought a house well within budget though; we could manage on my wife’s salary (her job is as secure as can be), and we had some savings left after moving costs.  It’s not a great time economically, but we plan to live here until we’re too old and need to downsize to a bungalow or go into care, which should hopefully be at least 50 years away, so this should just be a minor blip in the grand scheme of things.  The house is perfect for us and we’re very glad to have done it.

andycorleone

Most people that comment here are home owners that will be really affected if their property drop significant in value So I will take their advice with a pinch of salt.
Believed or Not right now you are in a very privileged position for not owning a house. Something is for sure Price won't increase anytime soon. Economy got a big hit by COVID19  this is a Fact. How big? Time will tell. 
So Answering your question YES is very stupid to buy a house right now. Chances are you will be able to buy something better if you wait. Worst Case Scenario  you will buy a very similar house at a very similar price. No need to rush now.  

Davesnave

andycorleone said:

Most people that comment here are home owners that will be really affected if their property drop significant in value

Some home owners might be affected by property price falls, but there are many who won't, because they don't plan to sell any time soon. Even if selling was anticipated in the next few years and prices fell in the meantime, wouldn't vendors find the onward purchase cheaper too? Or did you not consider that?

blue_max_3

I imagine it will cause most pain to people who profit from property. Especially those who are highly leveraged. 
I can't imagine there will be too many tears shed for them. 
The virus has been able to do what a revolution should have. It's a massive reset button that has been pressed and if homes become more affordable for people wanting to live in them, there will be a silver lining after all.

jimbog

andycorleone said:

So Answering your question YES is very stupid 

The caveats are important Andy

Crashy_Time

blue_max_3 said:

I imagine it will cause most pain to people who profit from property. Especially those who are highly leveraged. 
I can't imagine there will be too many tears shed for them. 
The virus has been able to do what a revolution should have. It's a massive reset button that has been pressed and if homes become more affordable for people wanting to live in them, there will be a silver lining after all.

Anybody who bought in the last few years with more debt than they should have is going to feel some pain, and many will probably not be moving for some time.

Mickygg

andycorleone said:

Most people that comment here are home owners that will be really affected if their property drop significant in value So I will take their advice with a pinch of salt.
Believed or Not right now you are in a very privileged position for not owning a house. Something is for sure Price won't increase anytime soon. Economy got a big hit by COVID19  this is a Fact. How big? Time will tell. 
So Answering your question YES is very stupid to buy a house right now. Chances are you will be able to buy something better if you wait. Worst Case Scenario  you will buy a very similar house at a very similar price. No need to rush now.  

Oh dear clearly someone who doesn’t fully grasp house price effects! Lower prices will only affect homeowners looking to sell without buying another property which is a small proportion of people on here. Most people will buy and sell and actually lower prices mean lower EA costs and legal costs and lower gap if you are upsizing.

I am a homeowner and if I sell soon I would be happy for prices to decrease to lower my overall costs. Therefore OP this poster saying take homeowners advice with a pinch of salt is nonsense.

What you actually need to ignore are house price crash trolls such as crashy_time who pray for house price falls to buy a house practically FOC. These people you can block. It’s bliss not seeing certain trolls posting utter nonsense turning every post that mentions house prices into a ‘IMO if you wait a year you will get a 50% reduction at least when house prices crash’ utter rubbish.

Ashgordon123

I am buying a house at the moment.
Of course it’s a concern that in a year it could be worth less. but i take the view that even if prices go down, many owners of desirable properties will decide to hold out until it picks up...or sell now while the going is good.
I wouldn’t bet on there  being a long queue of sellers looking to give you a bargain in six Months time. 

Davesnave

jimbog said:

andycorleone said:

So Answering your question YES is very stupid 

The caveats are important Andy

  I wouldn't be surprised if Andy thinks those go around people's necks.