Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Mar 14th 2005, 3:06 pm
#61
.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,374
Re: eatstatic, Seriously & x nomad
Originally Posted by spottydog
I'm in Loughton, 30 minutes to Bank via the tube. How about you?
We're in Hainault so just down the road from you
Mar 15th 2005, 7:50 pm
#62
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 223
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Panic selling as house prices slide
Published: March 2005
By Lorna Bourke, Money Columnist
New property coming onto the market has risen to the highest level since May 2003, according to the latest housing market monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
It looks suspiciously like sellers panicking as they see house prices on the slide. 'Buyer activity is still limited,’ said Rics, 'while the number of sellers continues to increase moderately, resulting in a significant increase of property on surveyors' books, which is up 32% over the past year.'
February saw a small increase in the number of agreed sales, although completed sales slipped slightly. Sales are down 33% on the same month of last year. The number of new queries from potential buyers is unchanged. Concerns over another increase in interest rates are holding back demand, the report says, despite the generally strong economy and labour market.
The ratio of completed sales to the numbers of property on estate agents books fell to 27%, its lowest level since 1996, before the current boom got under way. The long-term average is 37%. In other words, buyers are holding back expecting prices to go lower, and properties are sticking.
'More people are waiting on the sidelines as a result of renewed uncertainty over interest rates,' said Ian Perry of Rics. 'With the influx of property on the market, they are now spoilt for choice and can afford to be noncommittal, signifying a turnaround from the days when it was a seller's market.'
The uncertainty is likely to continue for some months, as the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates before the expected May election. And much depends on the price of oil. If this continues to stick at over $50 a barrel, it will inevitably bring rising costs for any business which has a product to distribute, and inflation will be the inevitable result. This could mean still more interest rate increases, in addition to the expected 0.25% in mid-May.
The Rics survey reports house prices continuing to fall, although they eased to the lowest pace in five months, with 32% of chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, down 4% from last month. With the growing choice of available property for potential buyers, prices are likely to remain restrained, with surveyors anticipating modest price falls over the next few months.
Price declines were greatest in the West Midlands, followed by the South East and East Anglia. London remains unchanged while price falls eased in the South West and Wales. Northern England continues to see moderate declines while Scotland is still enjoying price rises.
Like many others in the property business, Rics is calling for concessions on stamp duty in tomorrow's Budget. 'Rics would like to see the chancellor send a message of support to first-time buyers in this year's budget by introducing a long overdue rise in the stamp duty zero rate threshold. We would like to see the threshold rise to £150,000, although it is unlikely to be raised to this level in one step, given the government's current fiscal position.'
Published: March 2005
By Lorna Bourke, Money Columnist
New property coming onto the market has risen to the highest level since May 2003, according to the latest housing market monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
It looks suspiciously like sellers panicking as they see house prices on the slide. 'Buyer activity is still limited,’ said Rics, 'while the number of sellers continues to increase moderately, resulting in a significant increase of property on surveyors' books, which is up 32% over the past year.'
February saw a small increase in the number of agreed sales, although completed sales slipped slightly. Sales are down 33% on the same month of last year. The number of new queries from potential buyers is unchanged. Concerns over another increase in interest rates are holding back demand, the report says, despite the generally strong economy and labour market.
The ratio of completed sales to the numbers of property on estate agents books fell to 27%, its lowest level since 1996, before the current boom got under way. The long-term average is 37%. In other words, buyers are holding back expecting prices to go lower, and properties are sticking.
'More people are waiting on the sidelines as a result of renewed uncertainty over interest rates,' said Ian Perry of Rics. 'With the influx of property on the market, they are now spoilt for choice and can afford to be noncommittal, signifying a turnaround from the days when it was a seller's market.'
The uncertainty is likely to continue for some months, as the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates before the expected May election. And much depends on the price of oil. If this continues to stick at over $50 a barrel, it will inevitably bring rising costs for any business which has a product to distribute, and inflation will be the inevitable result. This could mean still more interest rate increases, in addition to the expected 0.25% in mid-May.
The Rics survey reports house prices continuing to fall, although they eased to the lowest pace in five months, with 32% of chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, down 4% from last month. With the growing choice of available property for potential buyers, prices are likely to remain restrained, with surveyors anticipating modest price falls over the next few months.
Price declines were greatest in the West Midlands, followed by the South East and East Anglia. London remains unchanged while price falls eased in the South West and Wales. Northern England continues to see moderate declines while Scotland is still enjoying price rises.
Like many others in the property business, Rics is calling for concessions on stamp duty in tomorrow's Budget. 'Rics would like to see the chancellor send a message of support to first-time buyers in this year's budget by introducing a long overdue rise in the stamp duty zero rate threshold. We would like to see the threshold rise to £150,000, although it is unlikely to be raised to this level in one step, given the government's current fiscal position.'
Mar 15th 2005, 8:19 pm
#63
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 90
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Originally Posted by odaat
Panic selling as house prices slide
Published: March 2005
By Lorna Bourke, Money Columnist
New property coming onto the market has risen to the highest level since May 2003, according to the latest housing market monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
It looks suspiciously like sellers panicking as they see house prices on the slide. 'Buyer activity is still limited,’ said Rics, 'while the number of sellers continues to increase moderately, resulting in a significant increase of property on surveyors' books, which is up 32% over the past year.'
February saw a small increase in the number of agreed sales, although completed sales slipped slightly. Sales are down 33% on the same month of last year. The number of new queries from potential buyers is unchanged. Concerns over another increase in interest rates are holding back demand, the report says, despite the generally strong economy and labour market.
The ratio of completed sales to the numbers of property on estate agents books fell to 27%, its lowest level since 1996, before the current boom got under way. The long-term average is 37%. In other words, buyers are holding back expecting prices to go lower, and properties are sticking.
'More people are waiting on the sidelines as a result of renewed uncertainty over interest rates,' said Ian Perry of Rics. 'With the influx of property on the market, they are now spoilt for choice and can afford to be noncommittal, signifying a turnaround from the days when it was a seller's market.'
The uncertainty is likely to continue for some months, as the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates before the expected May election. And much depends on the price of oil. If this continues to stick at over $50 a barrel, it will inevitably bring rising costs for any business which has a product to distribute, and inflation will be the inevitable result. This could mean still more interest rate increases, in addition to the expected 0.25% in mid-May.
The Rics survey reports house prices continuing to fall, although they eased to the lowest pace in five months, with 32% of chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, down 4% from last month. With the growing choice of available property for potential buyers, prices are likely to remain restrained, with surveyors anticipating modest price falls over the next few months.
Price declines were greatest in the West Midlands, followed by the South East and East Anglia. London remains unchanged while price falls eased in the South West and Wales. Northern England continues to see moderate declines while Scotland is still enjoying price rises.
Like many others in the property business, Rics is calling for concessions on stamp duty in tomorrow's Budget. 'Rics would like to see the chancellor send a message of support to first-time buyers in this year's budget by introducing a long overdue rise in the stamp duty zero rate threshold. We would like to see the threshold rise to £150,000, although it is unlikely to be raised to this level in one step, given the government's current fiscal position.'
Published: March 2005
By Lorna Bourke, Money Columnist
New property coming onto the market has risen to the highest level since May 2003, according to the latest housing market monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
It looks suspiciously like sellers panicking as they see house prices on the slide. 'Buyer activity is still limited,’ said Rics, 'while the number of sellers continues to increase moderately, resulting in a significant increase of property on surveyors' books, which is up 32% over the past year.'
February saw a small increase in the number of agreed sales, although completed sales slipped slightly. Sales are down 33% on the same month of last year. The number of new queries from potential buyers is unchanged. Concerns over another increase in interest rates are holding back demand, the report says, despite the generally strong economy and labour market.
The ratio of completed sales to the numbers of property on estate agents books fell to 27%, its lowest level since 1996, before the current boom got under way. The long-term average is 37%. In other words, buyers are holding back expecting prices to go lower, and properties are sticking.
'More people are waiting on the sidelines as a result of renewed uncertainty over interest rates,' said Ian Perry of Rics. 'With the influx of property on the market, they are now spoilt for choice and can afford to be noncommittal, signifying a turnaround from the days when it was a seller's market.'
The uncertainty is likely to continue for some months, as the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates before the expected May election. And much depends on the price of oil. If this continues to stick at over $50 a barrel, it will inevitably bring rising costs for any business which has a product to distribute, and inflation will be the inevitable result. This could mean still more interest rate increases, in addition to the expected 0.25% in mid-May.
The Rics survey reports house prices continuing to fall, although they eased to the lowest pace in five months, with 32% of chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, down 4% from last month. With the growing choice of available property for potential buyers, prices are likely to remain restrained, with surveyors anticipating modest price falls over the next few months.
Price declines were greatest in the West Midlands, followed by the South East and East Anglia. London remains unchanged while price falls eased in the South West and Wales. Northern England continues to see moderate declines while Scotland is still enjoying price rises.
Like many others in the property business, Rics is calling for concessions on stamp duty in tomorrow's Budget. 'Rics would like to see the chancellor send a message of support to first-time buyers in this year's budget by introducing a long overdue rise in the stamp duty zero rate threshold. We would like to see the threshold rise to £150,000, although it is unlikely to be raised to this level in one step, given the government's current fiscal position.'
Roger
Mar 16th 2005, 4:24 pm
#64
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Noosa Heads
Posts: 3,507
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Originally Posted by RogerUK
Quote 'RICS survey reports - 32% chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, DOWN 4% from last month' unquote. Does that mean 68% report no change in house prices or even an increase? A strange meaningless article in my opinion, who is the author and for who does she write?
Roger
Roger
Mar 16th 2005, 4:58 pm
#65
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: east anglia
Posts: 157
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Originally Posted by RogerUK
Quote 'RICS survey reports - 32% chartered surveyors reporting a fall in house prices, DOWN 4% from last month' unquote. Does that mean 68% report no change in house prices or even an increase? A strange meaningless article in my opinion, who is the author and for who does she write?
Roger
Roger
Mar 16th 2005, 5:23 pm
#66
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: up north
Posts: 191
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Hi
I have had my visa since November and cannot sell my house. I have dropped the price by £10000. It was already on the market £20000 less than any other house in this area. It does need a few bits doing to it but it is a bargin. I have had 30 viewers and two buyers. Both buyers pulled out at the last minute because they found better properties.
I have now booked our flights for the 28th of April because I am fed up hanging around. Haven't got a clue what to do with the house though any suggestions?
I have had my visa since November and cannot sell my house. I have dropped the price by £10000. It was already on the market £20000 less than any other house in this area. It does need a few bits doing to it but it is a bargin. I have had 30 viewers and two buyers. Both buyers pulled out at the last minute because they found better properties.
I have now booked our flights for the 28th of April because I am fed up hanging around. Haven't got a clue what to do with the house though any suggestions?
Mar 16th 2005, 5:46 pm
#67
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 301
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
We put our property in Bristol up for sale last October for 289K and accepted an offer of 284K in the mid of Feb. We had 11 viewings before Xmas but between 1 Jan - mid Feb had approx 15+ viewings and the week it sold had a few different offers all around 20k under asking price before we accepted the highest offer. There is a house the same as ours in our road that has been up for sale since Aug 04 priced at 320K!? I think as long as you're priced realistically you should eventually get a sale. Our estate agent told us in Jan this year, it was the busiest since Jul 04 and that interest rates staying stable had helped.
We're just relieved to sell with all this talk of a downturn, but like others have said we've made money on our house, so priced it to sell.
Good luck in selling your properties.
We're just relieved to sell with all this talk of a downturn, but like others have said we've made money on our house, so priced it to sell.
Good luck in selling your properties.
Mar 16th 2005, 6:37 pm
#68
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Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Noosa Heads
Posts: 3,507
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Originally Posted by sue_parker
Hi
I have had my visa since November and cannot sell my house. I have dropped the price by £10000. It was already on the market £20000 less than any other house in this area. It does need a few bits doing to it but it is a bargin. I have had 30 viewers and two buyers. Both buyers pulled out at the last minute because they found better properties.
I have now booked our flights for the 28th of April because I am fed up hanging around. Haven't got a clue what to do with the house though any suggestions?
I have had my visa since November and cannot sell my house. I have dropped the price by £10000. It was already on the market £20000 less than any other house in this area. It does need a few bits doing to it but it is a bargin. I have had 30 viewers and two buyers. Both buyers pulled out at the last minute because they found better properties.
I have now booked our flights for the 28th of April because I am fed up hanging around. Haven't got a clue what to do with the house though any suggestions?
Mar 17th 2005, 8:12 am
#69
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 24
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
[QUOTE=Juniper]We put our property in Bristol up for sale last October for 289K and accepted an offer of 284K in the mid of Feb ..... There is a house the same as ours in our road that has been up for sale since Aug 04 priced at 320K!? .... but like others have said we've made money on our house, so priced it to sell.
QUOTE]
A ray of sanity ... there are buyers but it is a weak market that is very vunerable to a downturn, make the property affordable and it will sell. I did the same with mine selling for 25K less than the EA recomended - I check rightmove and notice that other properties in my previous area are still for sale 10 months later as they refuse to drop their unrealistic prices. With fewer FTB's and stubborn sellers we are more likely to experience a crash than a soft landing.....
QUOTE]
A ray of sanity ... there are buyers but it is a weak market that is very vunerable to a downturn, make the property affordable and it will sell. I did the same with mine selling for 25K less than the EA recomended - I check rightmove and notice that other properties in my previous area are still for sale 10 months later as they refuse to drop their unrealistic prices. With fewer FTB's and stubborn sellers we are more likely to experience a crash than a soft landing.....
Last edited by x nomad; Mar 17th 2005 at 8:27 am.
Mar 17th 2005, 8:18 am
#70
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 24
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
RogerUK I notice that you have no reply to my comments that the slowdown\potential crash is not purely driven by buyer sentiment and the very few sources of media negative reporting:
My post is repeated below if you have constructive criticism I would love to hear it....
I think you are very wrong. Sentiment definately plays a role and with the advent of sites such as nethouseprices.co.uk and ourproperty.com the falls in prices will be more apparant causing more negative sentiment as buyers hold back looking for further falls.
The property market has been propped up last year in part by panic of an inflating market as well as:
1. BTL investment
2. Self cert morgages
3. Relaxation of lending due to low cost loans following a huge drop in interest rates prompted by the fall out of thte dot com boon and 9/11
BTL figures no longer stack up in much of the UK, the days of self-cert and large mortgage lending multiples are effectively over following regulation of the mortgage industry last year and interest rates may well rise further.
In addition people are cautious of buying before the general election and after it taxes are likely to rise. The panic to buy has given way to buyers being increadibly choosy about what they will buy as the current 12 week time to sell and 30 viewings average figures suggest. To add to these woes Haart EA's own figures now show that FTB's now account for only 19% of all transactions. With such tiny numbers supporting the bottom of the market things look verry shaky (Think of a pyramid then turn it upside down - yep you get the picture).
I wont even bother to mention the rise in commodity prices, Oil and gas shortages and price hikes .... only time will tell but I will be avoiding buying a property for the near future - if the examples given are not enough try one final reason- it is now much cheaper to rent than buy in most of the UK. My current rental property is 650 per month - houses on the same street are on the market for £240/250K makes no sense to me...........
My post is repeated below if you have constructive criticism I would love to hear it....
I think you are very wrong. Sentiment definately plays a role and with the advent of sites such as nethouseprices.co.uk and ourproperty.com the falls in prices will be more apparant causing more negative sentiment as buyers hold back looking for further falls.
The property market has been propped up last year in part by panic of an inflating market as well as:
1. BTL investment
2. Self cert morgages
3. Relaxation of lending due to low cost loans following a huge drop in interest rates prompted by the fall out of thte dot com boon and 9/11
BTL figures no longer stack up in much of the UK, the days of self-cert and large mortgage lending multiples are effectively over following regulation of the mortgage industry last year and interest rates may well rise further.
In addition people are cautious of buying before the general election and after it taxes are likely to rise. The panic to buy has given way to buyers being increadibly choosy about what they will buy as the current 12 week time to sell and 30 viewings average figures suggest. To add to these woes Haart EA's own figures now show that FTB's now account for only 19% of all transactions. With such tiny numbers supporting the bottom of the market things look verry shaky (Think of a pyramid then turn it upside down - yep you get the picture).
I wont even bother to mention the rise in commodity prices, Oil and gas shortages and price hikes .... only time will tell but I will be avoiding buying a property for the near future - if the examples given are not enough try one final reason- it is now much cheaper to rent than buy in most of the UK. My current rental property is 650 per month - houses on the same street are on the market for £240/250K makes no sense to me...........
Mar 17th 2005, 8:18 am
#71
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
We put our house on the market at £310K, and have just reduced it to £295K. Others just coming onto market in our area and similar houses are asking £395K, so don't think we are asking too much!
Anyway, just heard we have a viewing next Tuesday, someone from down south has sold and is looking in our area to take advantage of the cheaper and better properties than he can buy down there!
Oh well fingers crossed XX
Blossom
Anyway, just heard we have a viewing next Tuesday, someone from down south has sold and is looking in our area to take advantage of the cheaper and better properties than he can buy down there!
Oh well fingers crossed XX
Blossom
Mar 17th 2005, 10:05 am
#72
Just Joined
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 22
Re: Estate agents dropping asking prices.......
Hello,
For what it's worth, I thought I'd share our experience of trying to sell our house. We put our house on the market at the end of September last year, and although we had lots of viewings, we just weren't getting any offers or serious buyers through the door. We ended up dropping the price a couple of times, eventually we dropped by £20k in total and we had 2 offers in 10 days. We accepted one which was for another £5k less from a cash buyer and will be completing at the end of April.
We had already planned to go at the end of April, so in our opinion we thought it worth taking the drop to sell it quickly.. our estate agents told us that houses that are currently on at the 'right' price are selling very quickly, whereas those where sellers are holding out for a higher price are hanging around for months, and we feel that he was right as there are still properties in our road which have been around for months, whereas as soon as we dropped to a more 'realistic' price, ours sold immediately. I believe that a house is only really worth what someone is willing (and able) to pay, not a figure that an estate agents originally gives as what they think it's worth.
Just my opinion anyway, which is solely based on our experience of trying to sell our house.
Regards, Sarah
For what it's worth, I thought I'd share our experience of trying to sell our house. We put our house on the market at the end of September last year, and although we had lots of viewings, we just weren't getting any offers or serious buyers through the door. We ended up dropping the price a couple of times, eventually we dropped by £20k in total and we had 2 offers in 10 days. We accepted one which was for another £5k less from a cash buyer and will be completing at the end of April.
We had already planned to go at the end of April, so in our opinion we thought it worth taking the drop to sell it quickly.. our estate agents told us that houses that are currently on at the 'right' price are selling very quickly, whereas those where sellers are holding out for a higher price are hanging around for months, and we feel that he was right as there are still properties in our road which have been around for months, whereas as soon as we dropped to a more 'realistic' price, ours sold immediately. I believe that a house is only really worth what someone is willing (and able) to pay, not a figure that an estate agents originally gives as what they think it's worth.
Just my opinion anyway, which is solely based on our experience of trying to sell our house.
Regards, Sarah
