livermanl

Hi Folks,

Are any of you contemplating the move back during the recession due to house prices?

If so what price are you waiting to come before you move?

ann m

Do you mean moving back to the UK purely because of lowering house prices ?

snowshoveller

I know a few canadians who are looking to invest in UK realestate at the moment - they see a better return there than in canada!

I was browsing rightmove the other day (still have a place in the UK) and I must say there seems to be a few apparent bargains to be had in some places

livermanl

Exactly.

I'm sure there are people like me who purely moved due to not being able to get on the housing ladder.

So I just thought are those same people who moved for that reason now looking to return? or did Canada win them over?

Thought it would be an interesting study.

snowshoveller

Yikes I didnt think folks moved just to get on the housing ladder!

Souvenir

It sounds like a rather extreme plan.

livermanl

Put yourself in the position of under 30 year olds.

I was an electrical engineer and couldn't get a mortgage unless I moved to an area where I couldn't commute from.

That and the wife was canadian.

snowshoveller

Fair doo's although on the face of it is does seem an expensive way to get on the ladder (that and the fact that the ladder here is nore of a box to stand on!), s'pose it depends when you came over and where you were in the UK

btw is the wife still canadian?? or has she been cured

dazzlerdaz

livermanl

Well the move in my case was considored a 'permanent move' as I could afford to live here. But with the recession going on my view is changing. If the average cost of a house in Brighton dropped to 150,000 I would then seriously have to considor moving back.

I came over in 2006 when I think the average cost of a house through the country was 190,000 using the 3.5 rule I would have needed to make 55,000/year which was possible had i became a senoir engineer.

My view was to make use of the wife being canadain (I will rectify this next year as she will be able to apply to be British ) and live without the need to worry of 'what if we have kids', 'how could we afford it' and all the other questions that come with it.

dazzlerdaz

Even with the recession that's gonna be one small house ! i would think you would be very lucky indeed to get a decent house in Brighton for that price
Personally i might invest in the UK but i dont think i ever want to move back over !

livermanl

Not so, 3 months ago a nice home in a nice area sold for 175,000.

If the trend continues throughout 2009 it could happen, if it doesn't there are plenty of surrounding areas such as portslade, shoreham, hove, newhaven, lewes (you get the idea) which are slightly cheaper but still on the commuter path .

snowshoveller

Ah ha! sounds like you came over at a reasonable time - exchange rate wise and I suppose with growth in equity here and shift in the exchange rate you would have more buying power in the UK now. I read last week that the UK average house price is 160k or so - probably higher in sussex than say oop north.

livermanl

For me timing wise it has been near perfect a little earlier would have been a bit nicer as there was a big price jump on homes here when we eventually bought. But I can't complain.

snowshoveller

Bah! still crying in my beer when I look at the exchange rate