They are (as are rents) but here in London the price arc is flattening. I think the days of massive capital appreciation are over. Can't speak for the rest of the country.
Housing market
- Thread starter matt j
- Start date
They are (as are rents) but here in London the price arc is flattening. I think the days of massive capital appreciation are over. Can't speak for the rest of the country.
mandryka
pfm Member
Well, I bought this 3 bed detached in April 2002, so 22 years ago. Judging by local prices, my place has increased by a fair bit more than 100% but I've had 2 lots of building works etc., so it's not an accurate assessment unless nothing has changed. Regardless, it's simply paper money as I've reserved a plot in my garden to accompany my two moggies and four chooks. At least my wife won't need to go far to tend the grave !
I shall not be moved (Pete Seeger?)
When my father died I thought of doing that for him. When I went for the death certificate I mentioned it to the clerk there, and she said it can be a problem if you want to sell the house. So, that was the end of that!
But anyway, tell your wife to plant Cardiocrinum giganteum on your grave. They need very rich soil, they were traditionally planted on the grave of favourite horses. Spectacular plants when they eventually flower, I think they are monocarpic.
mandryka
pfm Member
I don't see any reason to think that. What I think is equally likely to happen is that mortgage interest rates will come down, there will be a large number of people who are currently renting who'll decide that the time is right to buy, and that'll fuel demand.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I too was wondering how having the mortal remains of an audiophile in the back garden might affect house prices.
Potentially tricky too I'd have thought if descendants wish to visit the grave in years to come?
kensalriser
pfm Member
I can see how it might be a problem selling your house if you're dead.
London is very atypical & is perhaps flattening at the top end due to Brexit & ongoing issues with Russia. However, a house bought 10 years ago will almost certainly be worth more now & a similar picture 10 years forward.
There will be significant exceptions due to cladding & leaseholds but the genuinely rich will be landowners anyway.
We’ve just had a terrible 12months apparently in terms of the housing market. Cost of living crisis, interest rates etc & yet houses keep going up. We just don’t build enough houses.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
Seems to come in fits and starts - big increases followed by the market going sideways.
Our flat in a nice part of South London hasn't really appreciated in value in five years. Certainly hasn't kept up with inflation.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Well, beats tomatoes, courgettes and beans, I s'pose !
Audiophiles are immortal (or is that immoral?). It'll be all about the frequency; of potential purchasers, that is.
I think the price boom in London is largely over. Yes, prices will still go up but by nowhere near as much or as fast as they have. Brexit and Russia are certainly factors but I think affordability and supply are also playing a significant role.
Should IRs and mortgage rates fall, prices will indeed start to shift upwards (already happenning from what I hear) but I don't think they will increase as much or as quickly as they did in the last 30-odd years.
You could well be right on that score but people will still make a killing by spotting the next ‘affordable’ area that’s about to go otherwise. What we won’t get is a crash.
I think we build plenty, the problem is they're all at or around the "average" house price, which is currently around £300k. Greedy bastards all round is the problem.
We don’t build enough houses, have you been asleep for 30 years?
I'm not too sure about the traditional argument that big houses make more. We had a small development in the village which would have made one big house, the owner instead built 14 affordable flats. He's had a consistent pension out of that for years now.
Down the road there's a big development that appears to be taking a break due to lack of sales; not much under £1m there and 200 left to build.
kensalriser
pfm Member
Continental Europe is stuffed full of apartment blocks, without seeing the data I’m sure the UK has a much higher house to apartment ratio. We’re obsessed with bland faux traditional three bed semis with a driveway/garage and garden and they're just not space efficient, so they’re ever smaller and crappier. And as astonishing as it sounds, building costs in many areas are higher than market value for small houses.
I can well believe that; it's been a tricky few years in the building trade. One shed i bought would have been quoted at 30% more by the time we finished it.
Stability has returned to the UK housing market, the latest data from lender Halifax shows, with prices dipping slightly last month. Halifax’s latest house price index, just released, shows that average prices were little changed month-on-month in May.
The average house prices slipped to £288,688 last month, a 0.1% drop compared to £288,862 in April. But on an annual basis, house price inflation rose to +1.5% in May, up from +1.1% in April (Guardian).
The average house prices slipped to £288,688 last month, a 0.1% drop compared to £288,862 in April. But on an annual basis, house price inflation rose to +1.5% in May, up from +1.1% in April (Guardian).
mandryka
pfm Member
It'll be interesting to see what happens if (as appears to me very possible if there's a Labour government with enough MPs not to have to compromise) CGT is introduced on the sale of your main residence.