Anecdotal evidence and statistics.......

Alan_M_2

A good friend of mine has been trying to sell his house since the back end of last year, it's on a large development that is still having new housing built although his is now three years old.

Kings Hill, in West Malling, kent for those interested.....3 Bedroom Terrace

this is his story so far:-

October/November - House put on the market at £310,000 the same price an identical neighbours house sold for a month earlier. Dropped within a month to £295,000 to increase interest.

Offer received of £285,000 in November, chain collapsed in January, but buyer still interested.

Second offer received of £285,000 in January, two buyers now racing to sell their houses to buy first.

By March it was apparent this wasn't going to happen, one offer withdrawn, original offer renegotiated to £280,000 less stamp duty (£271,600) to enable buyer to reduce the price of his sale accordingly and complete.

May, still no movement, the house builder on site still producing new builds dropped the price of new 4 beds to £270,000 fully furnished, stamp duty and moving costs paid.

Price of new 3 beds dropped to £255,000 fully furnished, stamp duty paid.

This effectively makes my friends house now "worth" in the region of £240,000 to £245,000 in my opinion. House removed from the market and rented.

Question:-

This is a factual list of the events that happened over the last 8 months or so. The house has been removed from market as it's no longer viable to sell, it was put up for rent and was rented within 5 days at £1,250 a month fully furnished. Gross.

In real terms, this has has dropped in value from £310,000 in January (at what an identical house sold for) to somewhere in the region of £240,000 to £245,000 now, for the sake of round figures we'll say around 20% in 8 months.

As the house is simply not being sold, the owners have decided to keep hold of it and weather the storm, this will simply not be recorded in any statistics, as a transaction doesn't take place.

How is this quantified when the monthly figures for house price values are taken into account? It isn't, in any way shape or form but it doesn't stop it being fact, just unrecorded fact.

adr0ck

don't think it is quantified alan

i would say your friends house is probably worth a bit less than the same new homes as you have to factor in around 10% extra for new imo

Alan_M_2

Removing my speculated value of his house all the other figures are fact.

So would you suggest his house is now valued closer to £230,000 in that case?

I guess it's worth what someone is prepared to pay which is the old line, but if an identical new house is available fully furnished and stamp duty paid at £255,000, what would you value an identical house at aged 3 years?

gingin_2

I think it's a really interesting anecdotal . Do you know what he bought it for?


It would be really good to get an anecdotals thread or even sticky going (like the other site).

Alan_M_2

I honestly don't know what He paid for it, the o/s mortgage is £202,000.

I'll update when I find out.

Edit: according to ourproperty.co.uk purchase price was £210,000 on 26/08/2002

adr0ck

Alan_M wrote: »

Removing my speculated value of his house all the other figures are fact.

So would you suggest his house is now valued closer to £230,000 in that case?

I guess it's worth what someone is prepared to pay which is the old line, but if an identical new house is available fully furnished and stamp duty paid at £255,000, what would you value an identical house at aged 3 years?

my experience is that people will generally pay a bit more for a new identical house

mainly because you get to choose your own

floor coverings
kitchen
tiles
bathroom suite etc etc

and everythings new (including warranty for house and appliances etc)

TT1_3

Most places i've been watching where dropped about 10k in March-ish but no movement since. And NONE are even under offer!

A house i've been watching that they have to sell was bought mid 2006 for £250k.

It was put on the market last August for £280k.
That was dropped to £250k in Jan.
It was dropped to £240k in April and the EA told me they'd discuss the price as its now sitting empty.
A month later and it isn't under offer.

3under3

Interesting story, just illustrates how the housing market has stagnated in this credit crunch. I remember when my parents put their house up for sale approx sept 1996 at 115k, it didn't sell till April and completed in July for 112k. There was no panic price reducing, they just waited for a buyer to come along.

m00m00

by 96/97 house prices had started to recover in many parts of the country

it would have been a different story had they put the price up for sale in 91/92 for example

SouthCoast

Chasing the market down:

History
date event
3rd Jun 2008
* Price changed: from '£154,950' to '£149,950'
14th May 2008
* Price changed: from '£159,950' to '£154,950'
30th Apr 2008
* Price changed: from '£164,950' to '£159,950'
3rd Apr 2008
* Price changed: from '£169,950' to '£164,950'
* Status changed: from 'Under offer' to 'Available'
27th Mar 2008
* Status changed: from 'Available' to 'Under offer'
3rd Mar 2008
* Initial entry found.

3under3

m00m00 wrote: »

by 96/97 house prices had started to recover in many parts of the country

it would have been a different story had they put the price up for sale in 91/92 for example

Sure, it still took a good while to sell though, but the general sentiment was completely different. Sellers these days fall into 3 categories, those hoping to get last year's prices, those chasing the market down, those undercutting the market - no prizes for guessing who's selling.

Any look on rightmove will show the vast majority of family homes unsold. Only few FTBers can get mortgages and are getting houses for better prices leaving the second time buyings struggling to make the jump up.