JAJ

I find it hard to believe that any property in the U.K could turn a profit on rental if you borrowed 100% of the funds. But maybe I'm wrong.

On a wider issue, 3/4 bedroom houses are attractive to those who want to buy (compared to flats/apartments), but often less attractive to those who want to rent.

Warnings of a crash in 1996 were just foolish sentiment because prices were just above trough and it was a lot cheaper at the time to buy rather than rent (an indicator that prices were too low). Now it's the reverse.

Nu-Shooz

Great news for us returnees. But on the other hand, i am in the same boat as those trying to sell too. I feel the joy and pain equally.

Londonuck

Yea welcome back to the giant floating estate agent conference. Lets hope all this doom and gloom will stop people constantly going on about how much their houses are worth!

Remember people... falling prices mean bad times economically. You may be able to afford a house but you'll have to find a job in a bad job market.

caledonia

I dont believe a word an estate agent says - so sorry to any estate agents reading this. if they said it was sunny outside i'd take my umbrella. estate agents only make money if they are shifting houses so they will say ANYTHING to sell. estate agents and stockbrokers only make money if they are shifting gear therefore they will talk the market up/down just to get people to buy/sell. pick up the west australian property section and there they are telling you that some dodgy area is ripe for the picking, the next big thing, just to get you to buy a crappy rundown shack there.

its the same the world over. if they say en masse that house prices are rising in suburb X, then they will because people will believe it pay more for a house in subrub X therefore its a self full filling prophecy. if they say - dont buy in place y its going right down the toilet - then thats exactly what will happen.

they are the seed of the devil!!!!!!!!

bil

When we sold our house, we had 3 agents, all of which quoted prices that were widely divergent. In the end we went with the middle one, which turned out to be a wise move. One of the ones we didn't use was very disparaging and told us we were wildly overpriced compared to the house he had just shifted up the road.

"Oh" I said. "Do you mean the one with the stepped cracks on the end indicating severe subsidence?? " (I have a friend who is a structural engineer who often chats about his work.)

Seldom have I seen a man go so pale, so quickly, and leave so abruptly.

englishrose

weve just bought a house after renting since last sept,and got £30k knocked off.better if you can rent really,it makes you the ideal buyer.

MikeStanton

The so-called property crash is more theory than practice...at least at the moment.

So, unless pressured to do so (eg unemployed or emigrating), most home-owners will just sit tight and wait for the prices to recover. What this means is that there is an increasing gap between buyer and seller expectations and fewer and fewer houses on the market.

In other words, if you're a buyer, lower prices are great, but you've got to find somebody who wants to sell first! Also, it will hit new builds as property developers realise they can't maximise gains, so will hold off building new properties. Which makes the situation worse.

Nu-Shooz

Also depends on how quickly/desperate they are to sell.

ellie10990

what a beautiful area!!
we are from bramhall just around the corner

dunroving

The other problem with new builds (apartments, mostly) is that lenders are much more reluctant to finance new build apartments because they are the sector of the housing market that has suffered the most (falling values) in the last 12-24 months. As many potential apartment buyers are first-timers, and lenders are tightening to lower LTV percentages, there are a stack of new build apartments sitting unsold.

Jerseygirl

I used to live in the Bramhall area...on the Bramhall/Cheadle Hulme border.

hawk2005

Another bonus of this argument (that house prices stall during the mexican standoff between sellers and buyers) is there will be a major cull of estate agents as there wont be enough activity in the current market to support them all. Also all those annoying property ramping TV shows like location location will be consigned to the dustbin

JAJ

There is also the factor that in most markets (rising or falling), new-build property carries a premium over most existing property, unless the latter is pretty special.

Something like the way a new car depreciates once it's driven off the lot, although not as extreme.

kevinl

What I'm hoping for is that, as the majority of people who are selling are also buying, they will eventually cotton on that a drop on every property will benefit the whole chain. Less stamp, less fees etc.
The only ones to loose out will be the investors, those dropping into negative equity and those freeing up monies to emigrate etc.
I hope the estate agents will drive this as turnover drops.
Trouble is for most people there is to much emotion involved and not enough common sense.
At the moment for us the gap in costs to rent v buy are big enough to make it a no brainer.

Kev

NKSK version 2

I'm not sure that this is true in the UK where new build is often of a lower quality than houses built up to circa 1980.

Assuming that the house hasn't been left to decay, I'd much prefer an Edwardian detached than a brand new build.

In Australia it appears to be the reverse where houses and buildings generally are much more temporary.