Good time to buy a house in UK

[designewit]

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Seems like a good time to buy a house in UK. According to a recent report the price of houses in UK has gone down by 2.5 pc as compared to 0.9 pc in April. These prices are also 4.4 pc lower than previous year. The most amazing feature of this decline is that it's the steepest annual decline in prices since December 1992, when prices fell 6.3pc.
According to the article the two prime reasons for the same have been economic uncertainty and disruption in the mortgage markets.
Whatever may be the reason but it looks certain that the optimism about the UK housing market seems to be thinning each month and the recovery from here does not look that straightforward either. That is if you look at this news as a seller. In case you are a buyer, I'd say a great time to invest in property/house.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

[John Jupp]

Nah. They will drop another 25%.

[designewit]

I'm sure there's a long time to go before that happens

Designewit

[Grounded Vertigo]

It would be good news if there were actually houses still on the market.

We've been looking to buy and saw number of houses on the market drop by over 50% and the ones left are all retirement flats!

[brickblue]

Good time to buy houses but hard time to afford deposit 10%

Besides surging inflationery cost of life making peoples reluctant to bear mortgage stress

[ian]

I'd say its a dangerous time to buy when house prices are on the decline, mortgages are expensive, and the cost of living is going up.

'Experts' can't agree on the future of prices and indicies are all over the place. Saying that, you can still get a bargain if you haggle well, find a desperate seller, and get a house where you can add value to offset any negative equity that ensues over the coming years.

[helpinhand]

hi guys,

lets face it, now is not the time to buy a house at all, there all dropping because one reason and one reason only, no one can afford the cost of a house, the prices are falling to meet demand, there are millions that want a house but no one can afford the

1/ deposits
2/ mortgage payments

i would say another 2 years, we will know the depth this will go to, if you jump in now the fact is a £200k house could be worth £150k in 2-3 years, they can go down and nothing to say they will go back up in value, if know ones buying them they cant continue to rise simple as that

[Wardy]

It's a bit of mixed emotions on this one in my house. I still live with my mum and dad and am now thining it's time I got my act together and got my own gaff so am pleased at the declining prices and hope it continues so I can get a bigger house when It comes to it.
On the other hand my mum & dad are trying to sell my late grandmas house so the lowering prices and lack of buyers at the moment can't be pleasing them!

Cheers
Wardy

[Barry]

I think its a regional thing, it really depends on what part of the country you live in or are trying to buy in. House prices in my village are probably not going to fall - it seems that the of the country thats falling into line with us.

The only house prices that are falling in my area are the prices in villages that are made up of second holiday homes.

Ta

[jezaff]

prob best taking the discussion over to:
House price news, information and discussion - HousePriceCrash.co.uk

But yeah, basic economics suggest that in a deflating market people hang back. Why buy something if it will be cheaper in a months time? Of course price is rarely the only factor involved in buying a house! But it is a big one for most!

Ironically, people tend to buy high and sell low, its all about confidence.

[designewit]

Well, I believe most of you disagree with me. Sure there's no certainty in the statement that house prices are going to bounce back and if you invest now, you'd reap the benefits later. But my argument is keeping in mind the people who've been finding it difficult to afford a house uptil now. The crash actually indicates a much needed correction and a affording a house wouldn't seem out of reach for a large majority for a very long time. As far as the surging interest rates are concerned I'm sure they'l be going down as well as I recently came across an article saying that Bank of England along with others is pondering over the idea. And eventually i'd say there can never be a best time to make an investment but opportunists can surely convert a good one into the best.

Designewit

[channel5]

House prices have a long way to fall yet... if you actually go back and look at historical data on previous crash patterns then you will see that things haven't even started going properly downhill yet.

Anyone who buys a house right now is a mug, and anyone encouraging others to do so is also a mug. We are going to see prices fall somewhere between 25-40% off their peak.

[Frostie]

25%
25%-40% :td
50% :scared

Where are people getting these figures from?
I'm no financial guru (barely manage a bank account), but think 25% and above when talking about house price drops is a tad over the top (or I hope so). I reckon it will be around the 10%-15% mark tops, but for the next few years will be a pretty stagnant market. Certainly wouldn't want to be in the position of having to buy/arrange a mortgage now :cry

[channel5]

25%
25%-40% :td
50% :scared

Where are people getting these figures from?
I'm no financial guru (barely manage a bank account), but think 25% and above when talking about house price drops is a tad over the top (or I hope so). I reckon it will be around the 10%-15% mark tops, but for the next few years will be a pretty stagnant market. Certainly wouldn't want to be in the position of having to buy/arrange a mortgage now :cry

Hi Frostie

You should go to House price news, information and discussion - HousePriceCrash.co.uk , they collate all the figures and all the projections from market commentaters and economists.

Put it this way, just about everyone now expects at least a 10% drop this year if not more (We had 2.5% in just the last month), over the next 2 years its easy enough to see that figure doubling..

If you look at long term trends in house values its pretty clear that the current market is around 30% overvalued on an average home. Couple this with the unavailability of credit, the general sentiment that "the party is over" and historical data on previous crashes then 30% is not to hard to see.

Oh and a 30% fall only takes us back to prices of around the 2002 mark. As long as you have plenty of equity in your home you have nothing to fear, and in the long run it makes affording your next house much easier even if your equity drops the gap to the next house up will fall by a much larger amount.

It will really shaft the mugs who quit their jobs to become "developers".. no sympathy with them whatsoever.

[Frostie]

they collate all the figures and all the projections from market commentaters and economists.

But they never predicted as big a drop in prices as we are currently seeing, so that in itself makes me sceptical

the general sentiment that "the party is over"

Only just started here... does it have to end so early?

in the long run it makes affording your next house much easier even if your equity drops the gap to the next house up will fall by a much larger amount.

Indeedy - every cloud.....