Soldato
House I went to see a couple of times had been static at £140k since last June/July, today saw that drop to £120k - certainly making me think more...
for me, as a first time buyer living in the south, the drop in house prices is welcomed, but the increase in LTV deposit price isnt. I need a 20% deposit to get a decent rate. If i want to buy a property thats anywhere near what i'm renting i'm going to have to spend in the region of £275,000, meaning a mortgage would require a £55000 deposit - all very affordable in repayment terms.
Yes there are cheaper LTV amounts, but the rates shoot to 7% (meaning monthly repayments are considerably more).
Yes, i dont need a 3 bed detached when a one bed terraced would do - but both myself and fiance are both professionals in good jobs with above average salaries (double income) so i personally wouldnt settle for less (perhaps a nice semi - but these arent massively cheaper). We both have 0 debt (not even student loans) and have saved and worked hard (considering we are paying £1000 a month rent and saving £1400 a month, as well as paying bills & living)
The best bit is i dont even expect a free-ride - we have £25k saved up for a deposit, an amount i thought would get me the pick of a mortgage rate, but clearly not. The problem for FTB's now isnt house prices its mortgage lenders. The £25k deposit, on a crap 15% LTV will get me a whopping ~£175k ish of property, which down here is **** all.
Now this would be a ideal place for me to be in 5 years, but I dont want to 'miss the boat' as it were.
Amazingly, there were people on Sky News and BBC this morning reccommending investing in property and shares!
Its a safer investment to bury your money in a hole in the middle of the garden these days..... AND the return is higher.
The housing market bubble was born on top of a credit bubble.... Unless that bubble is re-inflated, or prices fall to levels that pass lending criteria, then nothing will start selling in any numbers.
Once again, just because someone 'thinks' their house is worth xxx, doesnt mean thats what someone both wants to and CAN pay.
People need to understand what drove prices up in the first place if they are going to have a chance of coming out of this one safely.
Pull the other one! There's no shortage.There is still a nationwide housing shortage...
Are you sure it's not because the firms building them can no longer expect to sell them for OTT exorbitant prices?Eh? There is no housing shortage - just look at all the new builds that have stopped because theres no one wanting to buy them!