The UK Housing Market.

Originally posted by ken10
I'm hoping the crashing of the economy will see Immigrants that own houses here cash up and take their money back to their homelands, where they could live like rich people. And hopefully that will see house prices drop to a level that are affordable for us poor natives. Not to mention the jobs that would become available too, in that scenario.

I honestly don't believe that immigrants to this country have caused the housing bubble.
The one factor that is to blame for this mess is GREED :shk:

Speculation that houses will always be a pot of gold.
Well the rainbow is now well over, the yellow brick road is disintegrating into a pot holed minefield !!

I bought before the beginning of the last boom, the prices in my area weren't affected by the huge increases that the south had seen and had been slowly climbing over a long slow period.
I had my first place for about three years and by that time the market had taken off, property shows were the new rock and roll and everyone wanted to be on the property ladder, renting out houses and building their dream place.
Money was pretty much free to lend and everyone had spotted that, I was still in my old mindset so I didn't go crazy and over extend myself, I doubled my money on my house and moved to get a bigger and newer place, in the last four or five years I have seen the bubble slowly deflate, not quite the burst that some parts of the country have seen but its had a definite effect.

The houses that at the height of the boom would have sold for above asking price within the week are on the market still from that time, some with the same prices.
I noticed that a number of estate agents that sprang up in the boom seemed to artificially inflate the prices of houses, not the usual amount that every agent adds on but a good 40% over the top at least, these houses have remained unsold from the start of the credit crunch but the agents still give out the over inflated prices to the home owners, an ego massaging exercise if there ever was one, but ultimately pointless as a silly price = unsold house.

Locally the market at the moment is dead, and the prices near to me vary wildly for the same houses by up to £100K, lots of houses for sale near to me also hide the for sale sign too, the past few years of keeping up with the Jones's has give them a complex and they daren't show the economy has effected them, the drive way is a dead give away though, no new cars for a long time, and I think the worst isn't over yet, locally at least.

reply to post by moonrunner


Yeah, we have loads of unsold property here in Harrogate as well.
The houses that ARE selling are the upper end of the market, cos believe me, there is still plenty of money out there to buy the luxury 4-5 bed houses that most people could only dream of !!

I've noticed as well that the property which is really stagnant are flats and especially retirement flats. Which is understandable I guess taking into account the age restriction ( have to be over 55 or 60 ) which limits their selling capacity instantly.

But regardless of a complete stagnant market for these, and a lot of houses also, sellers just will not reduce prices
A flat to buy here would set you back anything from 111k - 140k depending on the area, But its the yearly or monthly maintenance charges that are uber expensive on top of the apartment purchase.

A housing market re-adjustment has got to happen, it SHOULD happen to stop future first time buyers having to take on an extortionate mortgage, that's if they can somehow scrape together 1000s in a deposit.
It needs to return to house values of 3 x salary once more.
It will be a painful process but IMO it seems a vital one.

peace

I suspect we'll face another price slump at some point... and we'll know when the prices hit bottom as that is when the wealthy move in to hoover up all the properties they can at rock bottom prices.

the last time around over a period of 24 months my property went from being worth £50k down to being worth £25k then up to being worth £110k.. tho I was one of the lucky few to have clung on to my property it honestly felt manufactured.

Right now properties around here have stagnated at the same level for the last 2 years... so my personal thoughts run along the lines of.. we will enter the recession proper when the bottom starts to fall out of the property market.

A vid from my youth that has always stuck with me...

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Loved the vid

I agree with you, the rich are waiting to pounce.
I think the market is manipulated anyway in order to make the fatcats even fatter.
They are in a golden position as well with the banks refusing to lend to anyone without a huge deposit and a perfect credit score.

I'm sure they will know the EXACT perfect time to start their new round of immoral speculation

I'm sorry if I sound a lil' bitter but I think a house should be a home, a place to unwind, and that everyone should have the right to this without getting screwed over.
I detest second homes, with the desperate need for affordable housing in this country why should anyone have a second home ???
Lets give EVERYONE a first home yeah and they can buy up the leftovers !!

peace

Originally posted by bluemirage5
reply to post by ken10

 

The UK is different to Australia. In some areas property prices are decreasing but rental prices are dramatically increasing and already we have a major shortage of affordable housing and rentals.

same in Boston, houses basically stable, but rent going up.

construction industry building apartment buildings, even 40 miles away.

There are numerous places here in the States where rental prices are more than house payments. My daughter is in CT and it costs $2000+ for an apartment (college town) and I looked at home prices on realtor.com and most of them run in the $200,000s. I'm finding the same thing in our suburb of Atlanta. I would love to sell our house and rent for the next year as housing prices are falling and to give us time to find a cabin in the GA mountains. However, to rent a decent house in this suburb, we would pay $3,000

And let me tell you, there's still money out there because while the mountains in general has decreased in value due to the fact that people are getting rid of their vacation homes, the homes on the lakes are still way high. We were looking into Lake Burton, Lake Rabun, Lake Seed (three GA Power Company lakes in north Georgia) and my word - you literally get a shack on a small leased lot for a million dollars. Somebody has cash to make that kind of deal. There are dozens of over-priced properties there. Look at this - a boathouse and vacant .69 acre lot for 1.4 million? I mean, come on!
www.lakerabunwaterfronthomes.com... t=34.7743317894877&whereAdd=WHERE+domain_id+%3D+283+AND+p_status_code+%3C%3E+2+AND+p_status_code+%3C%3E+3+AND+p_status_code+%3C%3E+4+AND+p_status_code +%3C%3E+5+&page=3&page_from=3

Originally posted by thoughtsfull
I suspect we'll face another price slump at some point... and we'll know when the prices hit bottom as that is when the wealthy move in to hoover up all the properties they can at rock bottom prices.

the last time around over a period of 24 months my property went from being worth £50k down to being worth £25k then up to being worth £110k.. tho I was one of the lucky few to have clung on to my property it honestly felt manufactured.

Right now properties around here have stagnated at the same level for the last 2 years... so my personal thoughts run along the lines of.. we will enter the recession proper when the bottom starts to fall out of the property market.

A vid from my youth that has always stuck with me...

edit on 7/8/11 by thoughtsfull because: facepalm forgetting to give timeline

for spitting image. Bring it back I say, never has good satire been more necessary than now.

reply to post by mjfromga


It is scary the way rentals are escalating due to the bubble bursting. Things look set to get a whole lot worse as well. Wherever high demand is, it seems part of human nature to exploit it !!
Well some humans anyway

I read recently that house prices had risen slightly last month and prices were finally stabilising.
Do I believe it ??
Mmmmm....of course I do !!



The house of cards is a coming down !!

Originally posted by uk today
reply to post by thoughtsfull

 

Loved the vid

I agree with you, the rich are waiting to pounce.
I think the market is manipulated anyway in order to make the fatcats even fatter.
They are in a golden position as well with the banks refusing to lend to anyone without a huge deposit and a perfect credit score.

I'm sure they will know the EXACT perfect time to start their new round of immoral speculation

I'm sorry if I sound a lil' bitter but I think a house should be a home, a place to unwind, and that everyone should have the right to this without getting screwed over.
I detest second homes, with the desperate need for affordable housing in this country why should anyone have a second home ???
Lets give EVERYONE a first home yeah and they can buy up the leftovers !!

peace

Your welcome.. the vid stuck with me as did Thatchers debt distributionist policies.. strange how it is fine to redistribute debt but never the wealth!!! *shakes head*

Anyway the vultures really make me sick and bitter having watched them pray on most of my neighbours... most of whom walked away from selling their properties still with huge debts.. it is sad to know this is how we treat our fellows

It is and I guess will always be my opinion that it is the vultures who drive down property prices and then drive them back up once they have picked over the bones of those struggling in the face of economic hardship. In my opinion they are scum..

but it is the desperate need for homes in this country that will always ensure the value returns.. so if we could rid ourselves of that desperate housing need we might take a positive step towards ridding ourselves of those vultures... but I can never see that happening as those who control the strings ensure we puppets dance to their tune

I learnt the hard way that my home is my home not an investment.. so I can tolerate it not being worth much in monetary terms as my home (and family) is priceless to me..

reply to post by justwokeup

for spitting image. Bring it back I say, never has good satire been more necessary than now.

I do go to Youtube for my nostalgic fix...
but your right we need that type of satire right now..
One willing to poke at the very essence of the mess we are in..
Sadly such humour seems to be deeply lacking today..

reply to post by thoughtsfull


A house should indeed be a home, a place to relax,
not an investment as perceived by the greedy fatcats !!

But as long as the system remains the same,
property will always be part of their exploitative game :shk:

No remorse about the plight of a first time buyer,
as long as their money pile is getting higher.

Yeah get those houses in your portfolio,
but not until the right time when the market is low !!

Then you can charge a packet in rent,
and its all quite legal, although its morally bent

reply to post by uk today


Lucky you if you can afford to buy a Property here... as for me i'd say rent until the cost of Housing has dropped significantly lower than it is right now although renting is high too but if you aren't working right now, you can get help from the Government!!

Are you on the Housing List? A lot of the Council properties are now being done up to standard and are as good as buying or renting a private property!! Just don't get oe in a tower block!!!

reply to post by TruthxIsxInxThexMist


I certainly couldn't afford to buy a house in your neck of the woods baby !!
It's the only area that is bucking the national trend, houses are actually rising down south.

Eeeee by gum, I'm a northern lassie anyway, might be a wee chuffin grim up here but its home

No btw, I'm not on any council lists, plus they're a mile long anyway. As a single person I'd have a helluva wait !!
But I do know about housing benefit which is handy if you rent and are unemployed

I am unemployed at the mo, but I've got my sights set on a job in Harrogate that I really want, only problem is, they don't have any paid vacancies at the mo.
But I'll probably do it as a volunteer for the time being.
It would be a complete change from the work I've done in the past, which was mainly office based, but I want to run a charity shop !!
I'd be ace at it, color co-ordinating all the stock baby

Plus I could get a mortgage and stay in Harrogate.

peace

reply to post by uk today


I got into running charity shops by accident, my main job (managing a project) was coming to a quiet patch and while out bored one day went into a charity shop to offer my services.. It was fun and for a while I juggled the projects I was running and my own business with running one of Scopes shops.. it was so much fun that I quit and went to work for the British Heart Foundation.. but found out the hard way it was not enough to pay the bills..

My sister (who was unemployed) decided she too would have a go at working for a Charity and ran one of the BHF shops for a while, it got her on her feet and opened doors into a new career path.. so if that is the route your choosing, good luck and have lots of fun..

ETA: I had a look at the prices for that area.. wow... how expensive are the properties.. to rich for my blood down here in the South.. The median price for a 3 bed house gets me a 4 bed house in a quaint posh village on the river at the foot of the downs (a few mins outside Brighton or short train ride from London or short ferry ride from France)

reply to post by thoughtsfull


Thanks for that baby

I think working in a charity shop would be real fun, although as you say, paying the bills could be a bit of a struggle. But hey who knows what will happen in the future, guess we'll have to see what Lady Luck throws up !!

When you say you took a peek at house prices, you meant here in Harrogate yeah ?
They are just so uber expensive, certainly compared to other Northern towns.
But I know why, Harrogate is a real nice place to live and tbh it will break my heart the day I eventually have to move because it's been my home since I was 15
But EVERYTHING is damned expensive here, from council tax to water rates !!

Aaaaaaw but I love the place, its got a real Cosmo feel, and the people here are real friendly.
You can grab a coffee and end up chatting away to complete strangers. Plus all my friends are here...

Anyway thanks again for your kind words

reply to post by uk today


Your very welcome and good luck I am sure you'll enjoy the experience it was like working in Aladdins cave and every day wonderfully different tho still trying to work out why some would think it ok to donate their marital aids to charity shops! there are some strange and defiantly interesting folk out there.. got a parachute once *shakes head and smiles*

And yer I was looking at Harrogate.. looks a fantastic place.. I can understand why you don't want to leave.. although I have worked all over the world... I grew up in Brighton on the Sussex coast and have spent my life in the area.. even when working away I long to go home amongst the rolling downs.. but I was surprised that houses your way where much dearer than the little Valley outside Brighton where I now live..

This is close to where I live and is my favourite sitting chilling spot on the Ouse (River)
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8f28e161700e.jpg[/atsimg]
(this is the village I was making the comparison )