What do you think about the current state of the housing market?

[wafter]

In case you've been under a rock for the past six months, average national prices peaked in August last year after gaining nearly 25% over just two years during / after Covid. Thanks to continued interest rate rises prices have now fallen back by around 3-4% (depending on source) and continue to fall. National average house price is now around 7 times average wage, up from a long-term average of 4-4.5 times. Mortgage lending and buyer interest are massively down.

What is your position relative to the housing market (renter, potential first time buyer, owner with mortgage, owner without, looking to up-size or down size, "investor")? What is your opinion on the current situation? Are high house prices a good thing? Is a fall a good thing? Did you expect rates to rise? How far do you think prices will fall? Do you view the coming months and years with optimism, dread or indifference? Do you see any tangible signs of the changing housing market in your area?

As I've aired in the past I have my own robust set of opinions, but I'm trying to get an idea of what everyone else is thinking..

Cheers

 

[Oldhippy]

Obscene, quality affordable housing should be a human right for everyone in the modern age.

 

[toffee]

Even though we are going to put our house on the market in the next year or so I want prices to drop significantly. Then my daughter and son will stand a chance of being able to afford to buy one.

 

[vickster]

Market is pretty dead right now. My parents are trying to sell their bungalow so they can move into a retirement apartment (which will be much better and safer due to their health and mobility issues). It’s been for sale since late October (about the time the previous PM decided to destroy the market ). They’ve had only two viewings, on with 3 agents.

Yes, it’s a high value property (although not especially for Surrey!) but a year ago it would have sold very quickly

 

[Slick]

I have some fairly robust opinions on the housing market locally here, but will end up sounding like Uncle Albert if I was to share them in full, despite the fact that I've been happy to put my money where my mouth is for a number of years now.

I will admit to Mrs Slick picking up a fair bit of working knowledge working in an estate agency during the early years, and after a couple of tough financial lessons during the same period, I became very financially astute still at a reasonably young age. We became a bit of a dream team, firstly just moving up the housing ladder then investing in a modest portfolio.

Fast forward to modern times when I sold pretty much everything in 2015, and bought a 2 up 2 down semi, pretty much as a stop gap to buy some time to allow me to sell our own home and find the right home for us. Made the cardinal sin of trying to convince Mrs Slick that this fancy new build was the bad boy for us, but 4 years later in 2020, she finally put her foot down and we went to the market again during the pandemic to see what we could get. We sold ours in the first week, and we did get an offer accepted on a belter by the sea, but it fell through at the final hour. At this point, most normal people would say, well we can't sell ours then, (bearing in mind that the house buying process is slightly different on the civilised side of the wall) but not Mrs Slick, whose word is her bond and wanted out at any cost, so we had to rent, for the first time ever in our lives. This lasted just over a year, and during that time we had travelled pretty much the complete travel to work distance and put in offers for dozens of different houses, with every owner greedier than the last as they realised everyone now wanted to move. The treatment we received during this period was unbelievable, but all it did was toughen our resolve to get the right house as Mrs Slick hit the phones and scoured the t'interweb. Couldn't believe our luck when we went to view a particularly outstanding property owned by an older lady who had not long lost her husband and was now looking to downsize. They ran a construction company together and had built this house together, so it was tough for her to sell. We sat and had a coffee and I told her of our experiences recently and everyone's reluctance to talk cash, as they were looking for offers way above market value. Her answer filled me with glee, as her obvious confidence and business experience shone through when she said, Slick, I could talk money all day with you. The house valued at A, but I would like B. I didn't even have to look at Mrs Slick, I offered her B on the spot, and we have been here ever since, hopefully for years to come.

Fairly longwinded way to say, yes I reckon I know the market, which has treated us very well, but this time I've probably sold a little lower than I could have, bought a little higher than I should have, but I'm still comfortable as any loss is all just a paper exercise until I come to sell, and we can maximise the profit then. Sometimes you need to buy high to get what you want.

 

[Slick]

Also meant to add, Mrs Slick is currently selling her mums house for her as she moved into rented accommodation. That fell through just before Christmas but the same people came back and are hoping to conclude in another week or two.

 

[Arrowfoot]

It's bad for both buyers and sellers which is an unusual and odd situation. Uncertainty is the factor.

The political parties on both sides of the divide must push for a national housing program that puts young families on the property ladder by the age of 30. And it cannot be out in the sticks. They must have a fighting chance. It seems many who have found homes early are subsidised by their parents who have the means. What about those that are not so lucky.

Imagine a first World country and you can't acquire a home.

The govt also needs to move towards the Torrens Title or similar scheme for land registration which is clear and the State protects the right of registered owners. Australia conceived it and countries like the Canada, much of the Commonwealth including states in the US have adopted it. It creates benefit is a clean transfer of ownership.

UK system is a mess and requires lawyers and sometimes the courts to decide. All with additional cost, angst and uncertainty. People have purchased properties where some portion of the land is in doubt and they do it knowingly so they can secure a home.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I completed in August when things were supposedly peaking though the offer had been accepted a few months earlier. I'm not planning on selling anytime soon so the prices don't really bother me so much, so long as I can afford the mortgage.

I would have liked stay in my old (rented) house for another year to build a higher deposit but the landlord wanted to sell. Incidently that house still hasn't sold so I guess the price is too high as other houses on that street sold quickly.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I would like to see house prices halve overnight.

I couldn’t care less how much my house is worth as I have no plans to ever sell it and even if I did, the next house I bought would be half as much anyway.

I just want my kids to be able to afford to buy a house and move out, because at 23 and 26 they’re starting to do my head in!

 

[All uphill]

We own our home; its market value is meaningless to us, but would be prohibitive for younger people without wealthy and generous parents.

I'd like to see house prices drop around 30% and to then stay lower long term.

For that to happen we would need a more redistributive tax system; until then wealthy families will get more wealth and poorer families will be exploited.

 

[PaulSB]

I own my house which is now worth 17.5 times what I paid for it! Ridiculous. I take comfort from owning my own property because as a pensioner I couldn't afford to rent and have any sort of decent standard of living. I believe this is a major problem the country will face in 30-40 years when "generation rent" want/need to retire. There is also security for me in knowing if things go badly wrong I have a lot of equity. The actual value is meaningless.

Will house prices drop? Short-term perhaps but the market will recover, if one wishes to call it that, prices will continue to increase for the simple reason so much of UK financial activity is tied to it.

Changes locally? Next door has just gone on the market for offers over £300k, 18% higher than the house two doors down sold for in October 21.

I would like to see a massive programme to build quality affordable housing. Sadly while the Tory party exists, or is even close to power this will not happen. There's simply too much self-interest out there in the shires.

One of my sons completed with a five year fix two weeks before Truss came to power and wrecked what was left of the economy. The other is very fortunate to be a cash buyer and will buy this year.

Ultimately to resolve the housing and other issues we need tax, tax and more tax revenue. Fat chance of that happening. No party has the balls to stand on that ticket and few the understanding to vote for it.

 

[Time Waster]

We are coming up to 2 years in our current house. More than doubled our mortgage to get it even though it was 1m2 smaller than our old house. It's got a garage and undercroft which isn't included in the floor area figure so it's bigger in real terms.

It's in a better area where people wanted to move to post and during covid. Ppl realised they wanted to live somewhere nice to walk out from your front door into nice countryside. Not that our old place didn't have good countryside from close to our back door just that here is a lot nicer being an AONB.

We bought at the time the market was starting to grow. We sold our house in a month but it took longer to find somewhere. Our sale was taking awhile to go through so we were able I buy our house and move ivy it at the same time. We saw houses but they weren't right. When we saw right it got sold before we could get in. Turned up outside for a viewing 2 days after it appeared online having booked the viewing 2 minutes after the agent had uploaded it! She was surprised how quick we were. No agent came to show us around. We called in to be told it had been sold and we should have been told. Sold unseen hours after it was online.

So we had another month without anything suitable coming up for sale. Then we got a call offering a viewing at the house next door to the one we missed out on. It hadn't gone up but we arranged a viewing for that afternoon after it just went online. We put an offer in, got it turned down then put in asking price asking for it to be taken off the market. That got accepted

A relief since the market was crazy after that. Houses sold within hours or even didn't get put on sale at all before getting offers in. In fact the process was sealed bids with some houses going for 20% above asking price or even more! My parents friend got more than 100k over a 300k asking price!

Now things have slowed down a lot. Houses are staying on the market for a lot longer. Prices are dropping too. We're fortunate as we're in a house bought a the price increases were just starting so we were on a bit of a low price. In fact we bought it for only a few thousand more than it sold for at a previous high several years before we bought. Plus we're on a 5 year fixed mortgage! I hope interest rates drop by then! I would not like to buy now.

BTW my last house tripled in value over 20 years. I think I've done well out of the house buying market. Of course it does mean I can't afford to move down south. Friends moved up here after selling a house in the se England. They were able to buy a guide sized house and live for several years without doing more than a few part time jobs if any job at all! I think I'm priced out of the south. Not that I'm bothered one bit. Can't imagine us wanting to work down south!

 

[Jameshow]

I think so often kids want the finished house without the graft. We rented for 5 years then brought a house in a rough area up north then after 10 years we moved to a nicer area and then to a bigger house.

My son been looking at flats doesn't want rough area or any do uppers.... 🤔🤔🤔

 

[Slick]

I think so often kids want the finished house without the graft. We rented for 5 years then brought a house in a rough area up north then after 10 years we moved to a nicer area and then to a bigger house.

My son been looking at flats doesn't want rough area or any do uppers.... 🤔🤔🤔

This is where the accusations of Uncle Albert will come in, but I know what it took for me to get on the ladder, all the things we went without to get a deposit together, and if I'm honest, I have zero sympathy for anyone who don't want to make the same sacrifices but complain about how tough it is.

 

[dan_bo]

The housing market has been pumped for the last 10 years due to low interest rates. There's a reckoning well on it's way.