UK house prices set for 14 pct 1-yr fall

merlinthehappypig

Does anyone have an 'idiot meter' we can take round properties we view?

Saw yet another house at the weekend & made an offer at 10% under asking price, which I thought was generous, but needs must etc.

The agent rang back with their refusal saying that 'our offer is what they paid in Dec 2006 - if they take that they won't have made any profit at all'.

People simply see property as some cash cow that owes them a living. Some huge shocks waiting round the corner for a lot of people, I think.

Our only saving grace at the moment is that the longer it takes us to find somewhere, the cheaper it will be.

We've started looking in holiday home areas, though this one wasn't one. Plenty of second homes coming up for sale in some of these places, with some big reductions as people start to wake up to what is happening. Over 80 houses for sale in Mevagissey (Cornwall), for example, on Rightmove - must be almost the whole village!!

WTF?_2

merlinthehappypig wrote: »

Does anyone have an 'idiot meter' we can take round properties we view?

Saw yet another house at the weekend & made an offer at 10% under asking price, which I thought was generous, but needs must etc.

The agent rang back with their refusal saying that 'our offer is what they paid in Dec 2006 - if they take that they won't have made any profit at all'.

People simply see property as some cash cow that owes them a living. Some huge shocks waiting round the corner for a lot of people, I think.

Didn't you know - it's everyone's entitlement to make a big profit from owning property .... where have you been for the last eight years

These people really are clowns of the highest order. I think that this factor of cluelessness exacerbating the pain is going to be a hallmark of the times to come. Not only are we in for a really nasty downturn by the looks of things, but psychologically a large part of the population are completely unprepared for it. Rabbit in the headlights and all of that.....

It could well be a 'make or break' thing for society. I hope that it at least brings out more of a spirit of community and lessens the greedy 'me me me' culture that has built up of late.

mystic_trev

Generali wrote: »

Like the signature mystic_trev. Is it new or have I been unobservant?

I keep having it erased, thanks to the thought Police! I wonder how long this one will last?

Have you got another Job yet G ?

merlinthehappypig

pickles110564 wrote: »

I have been saying that Ipswich Town will the Premiership title, but im just as clueless as you are.

Yes, and to really put the nail in the coffin of the last few months I support Ipswich as well, though not with any great passion since we moved away.

Incisor

merlinthehappypig wrote: »

... Saw yet another house at the weekend & made an offer at 10% under asking price, which I thought was generous, but needs must etc.

The agent rang back with their refusal saying that 'our offer is what they paid in Dec 2006 - if they take that they won't have made any profit at all'.

If they don't sell the house but imagine that it is worth what they are asking, then their profit is safe, and better still they don't have to pay the agent's fee.

I think I would have said that the reason they are not making a profit is because they must have paid too much for it in 2006

mystic_trev

The company has received only 80 reservations from buyers since mid-March - traditionally the bumper spring selling season.

Mr Harris said that over the past three months he had been forced to cut some sales prices in Cardiff Bay by 10 per cent

:rotfl:

Also yesterday HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said that it would stop lending to landlords investing in new-build properties unless they had a deposit worth at least 25 per cent.

Rightmove, the property website, said that the outlook for the housing market in Britain was “very poor” and that the high numbers of closures of estate agents ultimately would hurt its business

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3882649.ece

Generali

mystic_trev wrote: »

I keep having it erased, thanks to the thought Police! I wonder how long this one will last?

Have you got another Job yet G ?

Got an offer today as it goes to be a hedge fund COO. More jam today but potentially less tomorrow. I'm inclined to take it if we can agree money and my references are ok for them.

The hours will be much better and I should learn lots of good transferable skills most importantly. I'm not sure how much longer I can cope with the world of finance.

PasturesNew

merlinthehappypig wrote: »

Over 80 houses for sale in Mevagissey (Cornwall), for example, on Rightmove - must be almost the whole village!!

Mevagissey was always mind blowingly cheap for what you could get. Spacious 3-bed house with garden and full on sea/harbour views for about £80k in about 1999/2000.

It only got pricier when the holiday homers moved in and bought anything not nailed down.

Realistically there's nothing there. Unless properties have been extensively refurbished the quality will be quite poor and they'll be damp. Hardly any of the properties there have any parking whatsoever. There's very little life in the place beyond eating an ice cream or pasty and a quick wander round the harbour in the summer.

I WANTED to like it... because of the cheapness of houses 9 years ago, but I couldn't ever force myself to do it.

mystic_trev

Generali wrote: »

The hours will be much better and I should learn lots of good transferable skills most importantly. I'm not sure how much longer I can cope with the world of finance.

Tell me about it! I certainly don't miss having to turf myself out of bed at 5.30 in the morning for the trudge up to the City (Aviation underwriter at Lloyds) retired at 40 (12 years ago) and spend alot of my time traveling and watching Cricket, or both! Portugal last week and off to Holland tomorrow for a week. Wild horses wouldn't drag me back to the City :rotfl:

Best of luck with the new 'offer' G

ManAtHome

Generali wrote: »

to be a hedge fund COO.

Go on then, as it's not April 1... wots a COO guv..?

My guess is that you turn up at 9am, say "COO look at all that dosh", lunch 9:01 to 16:59, then back to the office to say "COO look at all that dosh", then home...