House Prices in 2008

[Nijo]

Estate Agents have nothing to do with it and they never have. The price increases have been driven by demand. There is a demand for 3 million new houses, but only a million are being built. It's all to do with more people living alone, having more than one house, living longer, etc.

There simply aren't enough houses to go around. The only thing that has changed is the recent credit crunch which has frightened off a few people from such a big investment and stopped some from getting a mortgage at all.

Much of the increased demand is speculative, and anything speculative can disappear as easily as it appeared. Many more people have been jumping on the BTL bandwagon, resulting in thousands of extra city-centre flats being built. See all the development around the country.
If people start getting out of BTL - or even if the future uptake is less than expected - then I can see an oversupply situation. This can happen due to real reasons (credit harder to obtain) or speculative reasons (lower expectations of price increases).
It may not happen... but fingers crossed eh?

If I hear the phrase "credit crunch" one more time I'm going to go on a rampage. Such NONSENSE it's unbelievable.

Nonsense in what sense?

[WazMeister]

I could only wish house prices would crashed.

Me and my wife to be dream to get our own house instead of renting a crap hole. Might as well burn money......

We can't or don't want to start a family until we have our own place.

Is that just a sick thought that makes you mad....you can't have your own family or start to settle down properly because the world to day has too many limitations... i.e houses being so expesive and stuipid to get a mortgage and just the echonmy is just so messed up... Really don't understand why we stand to call us Great Britain.. I clearly think it should be just Britain.
WOW I'm going in another topic here... I just hate UK lately, look for any gap to move out. Then again grass is never greener on other side............

Really wish I could afford my own place, if house prices don't drop in 2008 ready for me to start buying in 2009 I think I'll have a nervous break down and heart attack at age of 25.

RAAAAAA

[ChrisF]

Nonsense in what sense?

More the actual phrase itself than anything. I hate these kind of phrases that get made up by the media. Everytime I switch on the TV its credit crunch this, credit crunch that, oh we're all suffering from a credit crunch. The credit crunch is stopping everyone spending etc...

As an aside, I've seen more properties go up for sale on my site in the past 4 weeks than any other 4 week period in the last year.

[Rick]

House prices were cheaper years ago... but didn't the interest rates still make up for it and it was harder to get a mortgage?

Around here it seems to have levelled out. your looking at 90-110k for 2 bedrooms and 130K+ for three bedrooms.

[djjimbob]

The savings you make buying your house versus renting are becoming smaller and smaller.

[Dirty Sanchez]

As prices plummet expect the BTL merchants to swoop, thus keeping the lower end of the market bouyant......

[Nijo]

As prices plummet expect the BTL merchants to swoop, thus keeping the lower end of the market bouyant......

Yes, possibly. However if "prices plummet" expect widespread negative stories in the press, as well as tighter lending conditions from the banks (they're already reducing the number of 100% mortgages available). Any plummet has to have a bottom somewhere, but it's always hard to say exactly where.

[baad bwoy]

surely if there is a slump in house prices, the only people likely to lose out are those looking to make profits from selling housing, as the people looking to get onto the property ladder are now going to be able to, and while those moving are going to receive less for the property they are selling, surely potential purchases will also have dropped in price?

[Nijo]

Yes, exactly.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Don't assume the property market shifts at the same percentage - it doesn't. There are natural sticky points around the tax points and then there is general supply and demand, cheap housing at the bottom is in more demand than your 5 bed places.

[Herbalizer]

We've just had an offer accepted on a house. Its a three bedroom semi on a 4 year old housing development. Nice plot, good garden and great interior.

Its also the same estate that a certain Roberto Martinez lives on, let the stalking commence.

[Spatial]

*bump*

I've recently started to seriously look at moving again, seeing as the area in which I live is really on the slide now. Even Lady Spatial has had enough. Trying to leap back in, it's interesting how things have become totally unglued with the housing market.

Prices don't seem to have shifted at all. It seems vendors just will not move on the (inflated?) asking prices. It seems to be sit tight, hold on, don't budge - anything to avoid the dreaded negative equity demon that they're petrified is lurking around the bend.

I've seen a cracking house that's just what I was after and well below what they should be charging (due to the owner passing away and the executor wanting to get shot of it quick). But even though the mortgage is considerably less than a similar property a street away, it looks unlikely I'd get the mortgage. That's despite having a higher than average wage coming in, no dependants and small outgoings each month.

It seems that the whole crunch thing has left everything totally screwed right now. Banks are no longer throwing mortgages about like confetti but house prices aren't really dropping.

There might be a lot of talk about green shoots and house prices rising but the whole economy seems so off kilter I don't see how it's all going to get back in sync any time soon.

It's either going to take a massive collapse of the housing market or a massive boost from the lenders.

[baad bwoy]

The front page on one of the papers today - think it was the express, mentioned that they thought house prices will have risen another 20% by 2014. Not sure if this is realistic, but with all the extra printed cash floating round the economy, maybe it will somehow translate into housing inflation...obviously this is news which a lot of people will not want to hear.

[charlesr]

There aren't enough houses to go around, especially with the increase in buy-to-let over the last few years, so house prices can't really drop quickly. If I were to guess, I'd say the massive rise in the base-rate we are probably going to see in the next few years will force the prices down though because many people will not be able to keep up their mortgage payments if on a tracker with mega interest rates. Interest rates go down and then they go up. I don't think we should be surprised when it happens.

[abigsmurf]

Should've been building new towns 10 years ago and put a stop to selling council houses (most housing associations now won't sell).

There are lots of people doing part buy schemes now. My brother has just got a new build one under a shared ownership scheme. Only slightly more expensive than renting and you build equity.