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Housing market

matt j

pfm Member
This is starting to get me down now, everything I enquire about has already gone no matter how soon I phone.

Latest one got listed yesterday, just phoned them and they're fully booked and only taking names and numbers now, which is a complete waste of time.

I assume people are sat around refreshing pages all day and getting in seconds after they've been listed, I don't stand a chance if that is the case.

This can't be sustainable can it?
 
This is starting to get me down now, everything I enquire about has already gone no matter how soon I phone.

Latest one got listed yesterday, just phoned them and they're fully booked and only taking names and numbers now, which is a complete waste of time.

I assume people are sat around refreshing pages all day and getting in seconds after they've been listed, I don't stand a chance if that is the case.

This can't be sustainable can it?
No, it's not sustainable and we've been here before. I remember in 2002 a similar situation where there were no houses and estate agents didn't even bother showing up to viewings or ringing to cancel if a house got an offer, also friends in the 80s and 90s being in negative equity, my parents remember gazumping.
 
So hard isn’t it Matt. Mate of mine down the road put his house up on a Friday, it sold Saturday afternoon. London flat dwellers are snapping everything up around here.

Cheers BB
 
Where are you located?

My overall advice is sit right unless you really need to make that jump from renting.

I read a story about an Irish couple in Dublin where the market is also very, very hot.

Don't laugh but they realised their issue was the middle man, the agents. They actually wrote a very carefully worded letter and did letter drops in the areas they were targeting. It worked...it was an elderly lady that replied via her family. They didn't get a bargain but they got a place at a fair rate without all the BS. You only need a solicitor to buy a house remember.

I've just had two mates get similar success re. cars. They put wanted ads in Facebook groups and one had his ideal car landed in his inbox with 12 hours and he is now driving it.

Remember, some sellers hate the disruption of it all.
 
If it's feeling like the start of a bubble, there's a risk you're buying at the top of the market so unless you have to move, I'd be sitting tight right now.

But have you thought about talking to the estate agents in the areas you're interested in, making your requirements known and asking to be contacted if anything new comes along that might fit the bill? I suspect a lot of properties are marketed by these informal networks before getting advertised, which is why no matter how quickly you jump in when a new property comes up, they're already gone.

I think this is what Phil and Kirsty do on 'Location Location Location' and, whether you enjoy their programme or not, they seem to have a good handle on the market and how things work.
 
History is on your side if you're patient.

Even if interest rates get half way back to their normal there's enough people in trouble to soften the market A LOT.

Covid has only served to throw fuel on that fire. It's all fine to say people wanting a bigger house over Covid has driven that demand. But if interest rates move up then what people want and what they can actually afford are two different things
 
History is on your side if you're patient.

Even if interest rates get half way back to their normal there's enough people in trouble to soften the market A LOT.

Covid has only served to throw fuel on that fire. It's all fine to say people wanting a bigger house over Covid has driven that demand. But if interest rates move up then what people want and what they can actually afford are two different things
I agree. The current market prices are only sustainable under low interest rates. There could be some distressed sellers along fairly soon in the hotspots.
 
Housing market is incredibly resilient, even after a slump they always recover. As long as you can afford your mortgage you are fine.

People do overstretch themselves, many of my friends have massive mortgages but there houses keep going up.

Try to buy the worst house on the best street, people are often put off by houses that require work.
 
I agree. The current market prices are only sustainable under low interest rates. There could be some distressed sellers along fairly soon in the hotspots.

I think the whole system will avoid an outright crash by interventions as it's now 'too big to fail' but a softening definitely possible.
 
I think the whole system will avoid an outright crash by interventions as it's now 'too big to fail' but a softening definitely possible.
I am very sure that the housing market will never be allowed to collapse because it is most people's barometer of how well they and the wider economy are doing..
 
If it's feeling like the start of a bubble, there's a risk you're buying at the top of the market so unless you have to move, I'd be sitting tight right now.
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The snag with the "just sit out the bull market" philosophy is that you have to live somewhere in this time. Renting recently (still?) costs more than a mortgage on the same house. I remember renting in 2001, the house opposite was bought and sold, it went up more in that year than my salary. Sure, there was later a market correction but not for another 6-7 years and it never returned to 2001 levels. This coincided with a period when I moved around and didn't know even in which country I wanted to live, so I wasn't in a position to buy, but had I been in one place renting a house would have been a mugs game.
 
I got a letter through the letter box a couple of weeks ago from a couple living about seven miles away who wanted to buy my house. Hand written and personalised so I doubt they did many. I will be leaving this property in a box.
 
Not everywhere is so bullish. Friends with a very nice house along the street have just dropped their price by 25k as they had no interest at the first price offered. I would have expected the house to go quickly, as we are well within commuter distance of a city with lots of businesses relocating out of London… so I am told.
 
You may be, but I probably will one day sell mine and get somewhere smaller, more rural, better area, etc. When that happens a flyer just might secure it.
 
You may be, but I probably will one day sell mine and get somewhere smaller, more rural, better area, etc. When that happens a flyer just might secure it.

That's the point 99%+ will bin it but it's the 1% you are targeting that might at least read it.
At least you won't be dealing with real estate agents smoke and mirrors and in this current market that means a lot.
 
If it's feeling like the start of a bubble, there's a risk you're buying at the top of the market so unless you have to move, I'd be sitting tight right now.
I think this ‘bubble’ started over 30 years ago. It’s now in such a need of correction that it’s likely to be cataclysmic for the economy but I am still hoping for a serious downturn.

It will be Crashtastic!
iu
 
I am very sure that the housing market will never be allowed to collapse because it is most people's barometer of how well they and the wider economy are doing..

Agree entirely, its not a free market because the Gov is constantly meddling to keep it inflated and the proles feeling good about life. As soon as there is a stutter, the Gov comes along to pump in a bit more air. It is not unique to the UK, many Govs are doing the same in recent years. The Oz housing market increased 21% last year, the Gold Coast 33%! Utterly insane.
 
This can't be sustainable can it?

IMHO the following need to happen for a market reversal:

1. IR’s to meaningfully rise, say to 5% (still historically very low). That should flush out enough of the debt junkies.
2. Govts to stop throwing money around and bailing everyone out.
3. Banks to get the jitters, tighten lending criteria and reduce forbearance.
4. Govt to stop everything to ‘help’ people buy a house, it just further inflates prices.
5. Forced sales to return (see 1, 2 and 3 above). This is the key to prices falling.

Of course, the biggest issue is that govts absolutely love high house prices (for the reasons we all know) and will continue to do virtually anything to pump in more air. It’s one big mirage I’m afraid but we have little choice but to participate. The increased cost of living will bite and could take some heat out of the market but it’s tinkering around the edges. You’ll know we’re heading for trouble when you see people putting £20 of fuel in their (leased) £50K+ motor.
 
House prices crashed here (NI) in 2008, a lot of them halved. They were grossly over inflated prior to this due to the amount a borrowing on offer.
Slowly over the next 10-12 years the economy recovered and house prices crept up, a little every year. Back to 'normal' .
During the past couple of years we've seen another boom in the property market, due to Covid restrictions people who would have otherwise spent their money on the High Street or holidays were now looking to spend on property, a demand for more space, home offices, bigger gardens, etc, they've also been spending alot on home renovations now that they see the price they can get, demand is outstripping supply, prices are rising, people bidding up £5-10K at a time.
Two of the houses we looked at had been bought prior to the crash, the vendors in both cases were only getting back up to the prices of what they paid originally in 2007.
According to the quarterly reports the bubble or boom had started to plateau in the last quarter of 2021, this of course will be partly due to the season but from my observations the market is beginning to slow.
With the increases in the cost of living driven by Gas and fuel prices and a return to working in the office rather than home, High Street shopping and holidays I think people will start to think twice about moving to a bigger property. I also think the Bank of England will increase Interest rates a few times over the next year.
We sold our house during the summer, it went on the market in the 2nd week in June and was sold (sale agreed) within 5 days. Great for us. Unfortunately I couldn't get my lovely wife to get her head out of the sand to look at properties before ours went to market. We've had 3 sales fall through for a variety of reasons. Our 4th sale agreed seems to be going through okay, fingers crossed.
@matt j I set up instant alerts within a certain area and price range with Propertypal and Propertynewsni, I'm sure something similar is available in your desired area, the house we currently have a sale agreed on only was online for a few minutes, it turned out the estate agent had made a mistake as the vendor didn't want to be bothered with viewings on the run up to Xmas but as I had saw it and phoned immediately we got a viewing the next day, made an offer of the asking price which was accepted. Hopefully you'll have a bit luck and find the right place for you.
 


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