Have I missed my chance to buy in London?

RoisinDubh_2

Hi everyone,
I posted here a few months ago now asking if I should go ahead and buy a one-bed flat in London as a single person. My original budget was £280K and I went to loads of viewings and got very close to making an offer on a couple of places. I then got news of a small payrise in April due to kick in this month, which would up my budget to £300K. Between waiting for that to kick in so I could redo my MIP for the higher amount, some personal issues and just not feeling in the right headspace to buy, I decided to take a few months out of the flat searching and sign a six-month lease on a rented flat in the area I hope to buy in (SE London), thinking this was a sensible idea which would give me time to flat hunt with less pressure and to get to know the new area, with the added benefit of my dad (who knows way more about property than I do) now moving closer to me so I don't have to do viewings alone with no benefit of a second opinion.
I've now started looking again at sales, thinking I could start doing viewings again soon, and feel totally dismayed...whereas flats in the areas I like were coming up pretty much every day back in April, it now seems to be just 2-3 a week, and for a budget of 300K, they don't look any better than the ones which were listed for 270-280K in April. I feel so frustrated. Have I missed a chance at getting a flat at a reasonable price, or am I overreacting to a lull in the market? 

mattyprice4004

There'll be a slight drop in prices once the Stamp Duty break ends - I'd wait another couple of months for the post-break lull to end and things should be back to 'normal' (as close as you can get in London, anyway)

RoisinDubh_2

Is there any reason there should be a smaller supply and higher prices now than in April? It could just be a quiet few weeks, I don't know. I do know that it's gone from scores of flats on offer for < £290K to a tiny handful!

LAD917

I suspect this is a temporary lull due to the sunset of the stamp duty holiday.  People thinking of trading up would've likely listed their flats during the stamp duty holiday window.

Gavin83

I expect less people are looking to move due to the end of the stamp duty holiday rapidly approaching. I also think a lot of people are realising that their dream of working from home permanently in the country might not be as realistic as they once expected and more companies than originally thought will want to return to pre-Covid working practices.

Personally I think the time to buy in London was 6 months ago but honestly it's just all guesswork. No one can tell you what the market will be like in another 6 months.

paulj2021

There are cheaper areas in London if you’re prepared to go further out, for example some areas like Croydon have historically had a negative reputation but I’m sure there’s good properties to be had in your price range. A lot of people think London means close to a tube line but there’s many areas with good overground services that are perfectly acceptable 

RoisinDubh_2

Gavin83 said:

I expect less people are looking to move due to the end of the stamp duty holiday rapidly approaching. I also think a lot of people are realising that their dream of working from home permanently in the country might not be as realistic as they once expected and more companies than originally thought will want to return to pre-Covid working practices.

Personally I think the time to buy in London was 6 months ago but honestly it's just all guesswork. No one can tell you what the market will be like in another 6 months.

Gah....that's kind of crushing. I just wasn't quite in a position to buy six months ago. I remember seeing loads of flats listed and prices surprisingly low, but I just wasn't going to have a deposit together before about May/June. People at the time were telling me to hold out and that prices would fall after the stamp duty holiday but I don't see any evidence of that even though someone selling would need to complete right away in order to benefit from it. Or perhaps it's just too early still?

RoisinDubh_2

paulj2021 said:

There are cheaper areas in London if you’re prepared to go further out, for example some areas like Croydon have historically had a negative reputation but I’m sure there’s good properties to be had in your price range. A lot of people think London means close to a tube line but there’s many areas with good overground services that are perfectly acceptable 

I definitely don't want to buy in Croydon. I don't want to be further out than zone 3/4. I could have realistically bought a place somewhere like Crystal Palace or even Brockley three months ago, but just felt stressed out and pressured due to my lease ending and having nowhere to go if there were any hold ups with buying, etc. I also thought it would be smart to wait until I could afford 300K, as at the time the places in that price range were MUCH nicer, but now they look just like the 275K ones I saw in March/April! 

RoisinDubh_2

LAD917 said:

I suspect this is a temporary lull due to the sunset of the stamp duty holiday.  People thinking of trading up would've likely listed their flats during the stamp duty holiday window.

Yeah, I think they did. People were telling me at the time they were overpriced but I think it may have been the opposite...that people were quite desperate to sell and get out of London. Do you think it will pick up again after the summer?

Shaztastic3000

Yes, you probably should look to move to the north. Move quick though as prices are rising.

Cakeguts

Does it have to be SE London?  You wouldn't consider Wembley Park area?  Or Wembley?