What would you do? Would you buy a house now, or wait... in these circumstances?

Martico

I'd also factor in that rental inflation is pretty damn high at the moment - at least with a purchase you'd know that you have your outgoings within your control. That doesn't answer the unanswerable question of house value changes, of course, but it does provide some degree of certainty 

bluelad1927

So if you offer 500k on the 525k House you already saved 50% of the loss you've talked about. Throw in the 12k saved on rent and the figures aren't looking so gloomy

YoungBlueEyes

I'm not the expert on this matter but I will chip in with this. If this house is a suitable house in a good area, I'd go for it. You can't worry about will/maybe/perhaps happen in x years time. 

I offered on my last house in the October before Brexit. People were telling me I was crazy, that I should heavily reduce my offer because in a couple of months it'd worth the same as a packet of crisps. The entire market was going to collapse, look at the interest rates, look at the banks, panic everywhere!! etc etc. But I bought it anyway (at the price I offered) because the house suited me and the area had what I wanted. I sold it last year for nearly 1/3 more than I paid for it. If ever there was a time when it was unwise to be spending all your money on something that was possibly at risk of collapsing, then surely that was it!

It's trotted out on here regularly because it's true - no-one can predict the market. I'd say that if there is going to be any movement, it'll be small amounts in either direction. I do think that every time something big happens in the economy the systems tighten up so the effects aren't so drastic next time. So yes it may go down again, but we'll not see drops like we had with brexit/covid/whatever because TPTB will make sure they don't lose so much money next time. In my opinion. 

Postik

Just to second what YoungBlueEyes said, I waited some ten years for the great house price crash, and it never came.  Almost every major event in recent years that made me think the prices would come down, actually made them go up.

I bit the bullet and moved last December when interest rates were (and still are) steadily climbing.  At the time there were threads on MSE asking, "Should I move now or wait for the prices to come down?"  All I can say is I'm glad I did move and now have more space, and whilst I don't know actual offer prices at the moment, looking on Right Move the asking prices for the type of property I bought are still the same.

I've calculated that the "perfect" time for me to have moved would have been 3-5 years ago.  I'd have had an extra 3-5 years of more space and been tens of thousands of pounds better off.  But unfortunately nobody has a crystal ball.

patrick194

Well after lots of angst, anxiety, discussion and deliberation we decided to put in an offer!

It's been really helpful to get a sense of what people think on here so thanks for all the replies.

Let's see how it goes!

YoungBlueEyes

Good luck to yous Patrick, I hope it goes smoothly  

And as soon as you complete - stop looking at Rightmove and worrying about the value ha haa!