Steve2009

Maybe it will and those that held out for more will still be in the market. Could work out well for them. How many years you thinking?

eugene43

4 -5 years but starting to see a small return in 2 years but nothing to shout about.

Jon77

Everyone wants a bargain but I think you need to give buyers a little more respect than that. As buyers we all do our home work and pretend to be top housing experts. Some even come to forums such as this and share their so called expert knowledge But when you are about to commit to one of the biggest purchases of your life you do your home work and you tend to have a good idea of what a true value of a house is in the current market. However having said that if you market well you can let people think they are getting a bargain.

When we were selling our house we started out last April probably at a price which was a little above market value. Compared to sales on the same street over the previous months and compared to houses that were already up for sale we weren't all that competitive, but we though at the start we would take a punt.

Left it at that price for a month and we had one viewing. A month and a half later we reduced the price and brought our house slowly in to line with other houses of the same kind, viewings started to increase and we received our first offer which was unrealistic so rejected.

Another month later we dipped our advertised price slightly below that of the houses on the same street, viewings increased again and we received a very nice offer indeed which we very quickly accepted, snapped their hands off so to speak.

We feel very fortunate to sell at the price we did last year as houses exaxtly the same as ours and on the same street are starting with their initial advertisied asking price of 20,000 pounds below what we accepted!!!! And some of these houses are houses that were put up for sale BEFORE we put ours up! Thery have now reduced so far they are well below the price we accepted.

Buyers want to know that sellers are serious and commited to selling as many aren't. We sold our house for a good price in 4 months by thinking before we put the house on the market when we would make our move and reduce the price, we left enough room for reductions so that it wouldn't be a 'bargain' it would be realistic and it would get some interest, we had a reduction plan. We also had a figure where by we wouldn't reduce below, but it never came to thank thankfully, the reductions seems to generate enough interest before hitting that level.

And the reality is if someone had made the offer we accpeted right at the start before the reductions we would have accepted it anyway.

The market cannot be propped up by people not reducing their asking prices, in the long run that will do much more harm than good.

Jon77

Depends, London and the South East will always be a good bet. Especially with the Olympics coming next year down there.

However I cannot see housing in regional UK making any great strides forward for a long time.

Growth is very flat, unemployment continues to rise and first home buyers just cannot get a foot on the ladder as they cannot get the deposits or the loans.Wages are hardly going to increase at a fast level over the next 4 - 5 years for the majority.

I still feel house prices have a way to fall yet before the market can become healthy again.

Another period of house prices 'shooting up' in the next few years based on projected UK growth figures would be unsustainable and would damage the housing market further.

Plus interest rates are going to have to rise sooner rather than later, and I can see them shooting up in the next few years.

eugene43

Factored all that in & as I do live in south east plus there is an amazing infurstructure going on in Newbury with extreamly high job oppertunities that will be created well I know where I am putting my money.

Jon77

Good luck As I said, the South East is always worth a punt.

barney41

Well, I thought I'd join this thread as we have finally decided to put the house on the market last week, had our first viewing yesterday so that is a good start. We couldn't decide whether to sell it or rent it out (hubby wants to keep it ), so we now have a plan to keep it on the market until October, if no buyer then we will rent it out.

Good luck to all those trying to sell.

brendarover

http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/me...sinBritain.pdf

This survey carried out by the Halifax reviews house price performance between 2007 and 2010.


The data is sourced from the Halifax housing statistics database.

Houses in Britain’s biggest cities more affordable, says Halifax
More of Britain’s largest cities have become affordable to home buyers, Halifax has revealed in research of house price changes between 2007 and 2010.

The general fall in house prices between 2007 and 2010 has improved affordability across Great Britain and increased the choice of property available to prospective home buyers. Based on Halifax's own data, £150,000 could now purchase a semi detached property in five out of the ten largest British cities, compared to just one at the end of 2007. For those further up the property ladder, a budget of £250,000 could now buy all property types in half of the 10 biggest cities in Great Britain, compared to two in 2007. London is the only major British city where the average price of all property types remains above £250,000.

Other findings from Halifax’s research reveals that over the last three years, property prices in towns located in southern England1 have generally outperformed the rest of the country.

Seven of the ten post towns with the highest house price growth since 2007 are in the south of England. The Wiltshire town of Westbury recorded the biggest increase in house prices, with the average house price increasing by 8.9% between 2007 and 2010. Shetland in Scotland (5.1%) and Barnstaple in Devon (4.2%) were the next best performers. In the North, Altrincham (3.3%) and Northallerton (3.0%) were among the ten best performers.
In contrast, the eight towns that saw the biggest house price falls since 2007 are all in the North1. The South Tyneside town of Jarrow saw the biggest fall, where the average house price fell by 31.4% over the period. Outside the North, Maidenhead in the South East recorded the largest house price decline (-27.1%).

DownUnderPaddy

Prices forecast to drop in the UK by 20% over the next 5 years. Is the message to sell sooner rather than later, if seeking to maximise return ?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/text/bu.../kfojmhgbcwoj/

eugene43

Yes & london & south east expected to rise ?????? an average is what you want it to be.

Hoolio1972

Well all sounds good for me.

We couldn't sell in 2010, so rented our home for 2 years and packed everything onto the slow boat . . . . (we didn't want to sell at such a loss, but equally not having the equity made the finances tighter than a ducks bottom.)

but hey as they say, every cloud has a silver lining . . . its just been long enough to sample Brisbane/ QLD life . . . . we will be making plans to return home mid 2012.

No regrets, they aren't worth a thought - it has and continues to be a great life experience. We have met some great people (and some a$$holes). Everyone has a different destiny and OZ just isn't for us. We had that gut feeling the week we arrived. Even now despite having a dream rental, new cars, great permanent jobs, its not for us . . .. I'll miss the sun tho!

Good luck everyone else - always 'live the dream' you only get 1 chance, 1 life

CharleneG

I still have a house in the UK and moved to Melbourne just over two years ago.
We rented out the place in the UK and it has been a roller coaster ride with good tenants and bad but I still don't regret doing it.
We are currently renting in Melbourne and I am so glad, it has given us time to get to know the place without rushing headlong into anything and making any big mistakes.

My advise to anyone with property in the UK is if you can ride out the storm then let your property rather than selling it.
When you take the current housing market here in Oz into account (certainly in Melbourne) then it is at the peak of a boom, add to that the worst £ to $ exchange rate in years and it would be madness to move money to Australia to stick into over priced property.
It could be a very expensive mistake.

bingobob777

UK house prices fell 1.4% last month according to Halifax

10-20% fall in nominal house prices over next 4 years plus inflation equals 30-40% fall In real prices.

renth

I thought house prices only ever go up??