Housing Market News And Views 2009 Property Market Predictions

Comments

1. I think that the prices of housing is fine right now, but it will be going up in the future because newer houses will be built.

   Posted by Kakarot on 04/06/2009 09:38:45

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2. Hi we have found that tring to by in Cornwall, and seling in Oxfordshire has no leverage. we have exsepted that where ours was 250k and is now poss 199k owners/astate agents in cornwall still think of 2007 prising!! when thay sell. this dos nothing for younsters trying to get a home and leavs the market open to developers who will prices out the locals. ps sorry for the speling yours paul

   Posted by paul on 16/05/2009 17:40:57

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3. Hmmmm! We are about to complete on the purchase of our property, having dropped 25% off its predicted target. We were 'bravely' going to weather the property storm by moving into rented accomodation for a year and purchase our dream home at a so called rock bottom price. It is our chance to move up the ladder without taking on excessive debt (although it will be large enough!!). Following very recent announcements that prices have started to rise again, the question is do we buy now or hang on to see if prices continue to fall? The quarrels between economists and estate agents alike regarding the forecast for 2009 is confusing. Will prices continue to drop to 2002 levels as some predict or are we now seeing a sustainable upward surge in market growth? My feeling is that in an ideal world prices should fall to a more manageable level and that the greed of investors over the last 3 years should cease.

   Posted by Samantha on 10/02/2009 17:34:05

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4. Have finally sold our house after almost 2 years on the market. Accepted an offer way less than we believe it to be worth in case no other others came along. Are happy with our purchase, though we offered more than we thought we would have to, but afraid to haggle too much in case someone else beat us to it! Life has been 'on hold' for such a long time, it will be a huge relief to move! I think this year is a good time to move as the house prices can only increase, as long as you intend to stay in the next property 5 years plus, otherwise you may end up with negative equity. Needless to say we won't be moving again in a hurry! But I am very happy that we are finally moving - it has been a long and stressful wait for the whole family!!!

   Posted by Helen on 28/01/2009 23:26:53

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5. I cannot agree with the post by 'browneconomy' on 19.12.08 - Will someone please explain where and why people tend to use the 3.5 times salary as 'affordability' - it has become a sort of accepted calculation with absolutely NO basis whatsoever. If Interest rates stayed consistent then I could accept this method (although 3.5 times salary only works at a certain interest rate level, equally it could be 5 times or just 2 times) with so much wild variation in interest rates (from 17% to 2% in 20 years) then 'affordability' has absolutely nothing to do with multiples of income but absolutely everything to do with interest rates. Economies need to concentrate on finding another method of trying to control inflation and leave interest rates at a more consistent level so affordability can be measured accurately, therefore the 'true' value of house prices can be established and remain consistent. It worries me greatly that we have a Prime Minister and former Chancellor that doesn't seem to understand this basic principal and fuels this volatility by encouraging the use of interest rates to try and stabilise the economy. It is not a long term solution. If this country must have flexible interest rates then it should also introduce mortgages that have fixed payments but flexible interest rates that adjusts the term of the mortgage rather than the payments, offering long term stability for home owners.

   Posted by Jockey on 09/01/2009 07:21:56

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6. What is the TRUE price of property? - What the buyer is willing to sell at and what the buyer is prepared to pay. In the UK 70%of property is owned rather than rented. Given that the average wage is 25k it seems reasonable that someone earning 20k (80% of average) should be able to buy a property on their own. Thus the (national average) price for a first time buyers property could be calculated as: 3.5 time salary (20k *3.5) = 70k plus deposit of say 10% would give a FTB average of about 78k On this basis a couple both earning 20k would be able to afford a family home at 2.5 joint earnings (with 10% deposit) about ?110k. Given the above I would say that average prices will fall from (Nationwide figures) 185k at peak to 157k now to about 120k this time next year or a drop of 35% from peak. Although in the boom prices overshot long term trend by 35% and given unemployment/ market sentiment / lack of mortgage availability etc there may well be a large undershot from the figure i have calculated above. Just for fun could you have a competition for the most accurate prediction of (say) Nationwide average house prices at end of 2010?

   Posted by browneconomy on 19/12/2008 16:46:33

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7. I think the suggestion regarding Thanet's property values is spot on. With the high speed rail link planned for Ramsgate next year (and although not reducing the commuting time quite as much as suggested), and bearing in mind that property in the town is still reasonable for the South East, Ramsgate in particular has to be one to watch.

   Posted by Paul on 17/12/2008 02:31:00

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8. We're buying and selling. We feel we're realistic sellers - we've accepted nearly £100,000 below the original asking price, a year and a half after it went on the market. Unfortunately the people we're buying from aren't prepared to take a hit anything like that, even though their agent says it's overvalued and they need to sell soon.

   Posted by Sarah on 25/11/2008 14:20:09

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9. I live 15 miles outside Manchester. A house on the same road as mine sold in August 07 for £150k. I've already reduced mine to £125k (20% less) with very little interest and no offers. I'll definatly have to reduce my asking price by a minimum of another £10k to generate any interest. This works out at a reduction from peak of about 24%. Conversley, i expect the next house i buy to be reduced by the same percentage figure.

   Posted by NorthernGeezer on 19/11/2008 13:10:27

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