House prices

Wait till the public sector job cuts hit and the current cost of living rises again, add in inflation/interest rates and house prices could easily fall.
 
There are always lots of people who will tell you with absolute certainty what house prices will do in the near future. Unfortunately they're all talking out of their backsides, no-one can possibly know for sure. What you should do is ask yourself what your position will be if house prices drop 5%, 10%, 20% etc. Will you be happy to stay put in that property for a long period as you rebuild your equity? If so, go ahead I say. If you're looking for property as an investment or think you may want to move again in a couple of years - then be a bit more cautious.
 
The issue is to many people look to buy a place and hope it jumps up by 20% (random figure) a year. This is just luck really so dont hedging your bets as such as it might not work out the way you hope. Dont get me wrong I would love my place to go up by that much but Im happy to play the waiting game currently.

See, I don't get this attitude at all.
Why is it good if house prices go up? Unless you have multiple properties or are looking to downsize it's much better for home owners if prices don't rocket.
 
See, I don't get this attitude at all.
Why is it good if house prices go up? Unless you have multiple properties or are looking to downsize it's much better for home owners if prices don't rocket.

Its not always a good thing really and for good reason.

it prices first time buyers out of the market forcing them to rent. The "rich" are the people that have the houses to rent while the poor cant buy so they end up paying the mortgage of the house but getting nothing for it while the owner of the house create a nice line of cash.

Also if house prices do go up your not stuck and you dont have to worry about your current mortgage putting down a larger sum on money on the next place regardless of if your downsizing or going up in the world. Bigger deposit normally means better mortgage rate and if your smart with your next purchase a shorter mortgage hopefully.

But your right if your looking to buy and prices have gone up then really all it means if your paying more for your next place so its not all that helpful.
 
My personal, completely uneducated, thoughts are that the housing market will drop over the next year, I'd be surprised by even 10% in non-inflation-adjusted terms though, let alone 30%...

But as has been said if you're buying a house to live in then the main thing to consider is whether you can afford now (guessing so seeing as you're considering it) and that you are sure that you can afford the mortgage if/when rates rise, essentially this means being very careful over long term trackers (imo)

If I was looking to buy right now I'd be looking at fixed rates for 3-5 years, preferably in the 4-5% region, as I think that interest rates will rise to at least 1% before the end of the year, if not closer to 2% (note that the historical 'normal' interest rates are 4-5%, so trackers could get painful over the next 2 years or more)

Of course I could well be completely wrong and house prices will rise, rates will stay at 0.5% forever more and we all live happily ever after ¬_¬
 
Wait till the public sector job cuts hit and the current cost of living rises again, add in inflation/interest rates and house prices could easily fall.

The price of the house may fall, but servicing the debt on it and also normal running costs will make it no cheaper over all tbh.
 
Buy now - mortgage fianance available, still very low interest (which will go up) and prices low (they will increase over time and there's noever a "right" time to buy.
 
Movements are also greatly influenced by location, Greater London is more likely to stay steady or rise than most other parts of the UK.
 
People want house prices to rise because they view a house as an investment rather than a home.

I think the vast majority of people buy a home as somewhere to live rather than an investment. That said though, it is like an asset just like any other - if its value increases you are in profit and likely to a bit freer with your cash and if it loses value then you make a loss and need to tighten your belt. The ideal situation would be house price stability, with low-moderate growth in house prices. However I don't think we'll ever get that in this country.
 
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors RICS are predicting a 2-5% drop maximum. From the end of last year into the start of this year there has been a slight drop in prices but this is expected to be buoyed in Spring by a lack of new sellers coming on the Market as there are a lot less people in a situation of having to sell immediately so the sellers are going to sit on their properties and wait things out.

Most other institutes, lenders have similar forecasts re a small drop just now then a period of price stagnation to the end of the year as less properties are available to match the reduced amount of buyers on the Market.

So long and short of it is your not likely to get a better deal 3 months down the line unless you find a property which has to be shifted in short order and the number of those is expected to drop drastically.
 
2 yaers ago,"They" said prices would fall 30%
Guess what....

....they did not.

Only because people are not willing to sell for less than asking, a house is a commodity, people would rather stay in a house they cant afford rather then donwgrade, they rise and just tend to stay flat, never really fall well I have never known them to fall in price, maybe they did in the last recession.

A family bought a house in the street I live in and it was £152k 3 years ago, they must have spent £20k doing it up, built a conservatory, added on 2 bed dorm and decorated every room. Now its for sale at £170k,

How is that nice cheap house you expected to get 4 years ago? :D

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17736582

Even a broken clock is right twice a day :D

tbh the country would be in a better place now if we did see a crash 4 years ago, we would have more people in homes paying tax, rather than millions renting or living with family and a better economy because people would have more money to spend due to cheaper mortgage payments.
 
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House prices dipping, well yes I think they will, however it is all regional.
Some areas may have a slight drop or even no drop at all. Other areas of the country might drop by 5%, the whole market is driven by some many different factors.
The decision is, can you afford, is it reasonably price, does it need any work, is it in a good location, if it is not an investment but just a home then 5% in a few months time is nothing to worry about.
 
tbh the country would be in a better place now if we did see a crash 4 years ago, we would have more people in homes paying tax, rather than millions renting or living with family and a better economy because people would have more money to spend due to cheaper mortgage payments.

You're missing the fact that the income on rental is taxed though, a mortgage isn't.
 
2 yaers ago,"They" said prices would fall 30%
Guess what....

....they did not.

You sure ?

This for Northern Ireland as a whole.


Peak Q3 2007 227970 + 1.1%
+1 Q4 2007 224816 - 1.4%
+2 Q1 2008 196892 - 12.4%
+3 Q2 2008 183476 - 6.8%
+4 Q3 2008 159970 - 12.8%
+5 Q4 2008 147833 - 7.6%
+6 Q1 2009 138,537 - 6.2%
+7 Q2 2009 135,862 -1.9%
+8 Q3 2009 147,204 +8.3%
+9 Q4 2009 137,949 - 6.3%
+10 Q1 2010 134,435 - 2.5%


Total fall from peak to Q1 2010 - for the average Northern Ireland house - £93,535 or 41%

And it's even worse now - Possibly around 45% up until Dec 2010. I know of loads of people who paid around £230,000 - £240,000 for houses - only for them be valued recently at £100,00 - £110,000

Most poeple here have agreed the peak will be around 50% - and I can;t se why not.


All depends where u are ;)
 
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2 yaers ago,"They" said prices would fall 30%
Guess what....

....they did not.

yes but they had an election to win, whole different ball game now. You haven't seen anything yet.

If you have high LTV get ready for negative equity and higher interest charges. Of course you were all very careful with your financial planning, plenty of slack in the pay packet I suppose (not).

To the OP, your 10k you might lose is real money not some fictitious house valuation. Never forget that.

I would say the last 5 years have probably been the worst timing in living memory (probably ever) to buy a house in England.
 
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