A lot of talk...

IveSeenTheLight

MrDT wrote: »

I have a hard time believing that the price of smallish houses round here will drop more than 25%, but that's because prices have never really gone totally crazy here. Of course, if they do drop further that's fine by me!

Right now, with no further price drops, and with a 10% deposit in hand I could buy a two bedroom house not too far away that's not falling to pieces for asking price with a 2.15x mortgage (and I'm not especially well paid). Something about these properties halving and being within reach of 1x salary seems unlikely to me.

This is the beuty of understanding regional variances. The different parts of the UK will not all drop or rise the same.
I tries to show this on this thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=10696347&highlight=understanding+regional+variances#post10696347
using this spreadsheet, everyone can see specifically how their area has been affected in the last 20 years
http://www.hbosplc.com/economy/inclu...TownsData3.xls

If as others believe property was to half in your area, everyone would either be living in mansions or be mortgage free in a few years, especially families with two disposable incomes

MrDT wrote: »

With a 10k deposit I could buy a really nice place (I know it's all relative, but 3 beds + garden + offroad parking + only 2 miles from the office = nice enough for me!) for 4.1x salary - not a multiple I'd take, if >4x is still being offered even. A drop of 25% (which is pretty much the limit of my realistic local estimates) would mean I could snap the place up with a 2.9x single salary mortgage - this is a servicable debt I'm talking about a nice house that would be suitable for a 2 adult 2 child family, prices for this kind of place dropping much lower than 3x single salary seems unlikely.

I agree :T, imagine how affordable it is for two income earners

MrDT wrote: »

Of course, what happens in my little corner of Wales where prices aren't too ridiculous as they stand has little bearing on vastly overpriced parts of the country, or a nationwide average... So I'll just stick to my local estimates for now

Very wise

MrDT wrote: »

If anybody knows of a reliable source for data on average earnings by region/county in the UK I'd really appreciate it. I'm basing all my ideas on my salary being 'average'. I know it's below the UK average, but it's possibly over the local average - and it's the local market I'm interested in...

I dont have this sorry, but you can see how your little corner of Wales has been affected by house prices, even during the last crash here
http://www.hbosplc.com/economy/inclu...TownsData3.xls