Mitchy260

If you follow that logic, what happens when Mr average meets Mrs Average? (We are speaking of 2 average £26k incomes here)

Instead of an average 3bed semi detached that you can buy on 1 lot of the £26k, they'll now be able to jump to a 4/5 bedroom countryside detached when they use the 2 lots

A middle income couple will be able to afford a mansion.

A higher earning couple will be able to afford a castle

And a rich couple so the footballers and the likes will be buying small islands

I think its wrong to assume average wage should be buying an average house, but that's just my outlook on it, perhaps it should, but then we would all have multiple homes/BTL's etc

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

Same with anything though, if you price it right it will sell/rent. I managed to rent my flat out over Xmas with a few days, priced slightly lower than thre top rents, but no empty period.

Mitchy260

The new build flats on the banks of the river dee, £300k+ for 2 bed luxury apartments, no wonder they are not selling I agree with you, but this is not indicitive of Aberdeen, the whole country has a heap load of these vastly overpriced 'luxury' flats that are just not shifting.

Abeerdeen(shire) properties are currently at Sept 2007 levels, they are down 2.1% from where they peaked back then. Yes prices are falling as they are everywhere but as a whole and due to its surrounding industry, Aberdeen is obviously coping very well.
If Aberdeen is at Sept 2007 levels and the country as a whole is back at July 2004, then it shows you its fairing very well.

Nationwide are due to release their 4th 1/4 release any day now, yes this will show another dip, but i wouldn't be surprised if it only shows 5% or so down overall.

Ive had my eye on a few properties for months, and they are not budging in price, granted they are not selling either but the sellers are not dropping their prices as, as you'll know the rental market in Aberdeen is very very strong and they are instead opting for that.

Country as a whole is in for 25-35%
Scotland 20-25%
Aberdeen i would say down around 15%

My guess is only as good as the next though, Aberdeen did fair well in the crash of the 90's so no reason why it wont survive virtually unscathed again

Oil is currently at $40 a barrel but working in the industry myself, i have not seen any cutbacks, at all. The website oilcareers.com is still flooded with available positions, and im still getting regular weekly phone calls asking me to go back offshore.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I dont see whyt PSL/SSU/Pete gets so worked up about house prices, surely being 80 odd as he used to claim his house will be paid for and generally older people dont get that excited about moving.

SunnySideUp

You are quite correct, but lowering your rents to gain a customer will mean that the price you will pay for the property in the first place will need to be less than it was otherwise ....... which actually proves what I was saying that Landlords will not support the market if rents are falling due to oversupply.

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

The big price reduction I mentioned was a victorian house in the centre

I agree Aberdeen wont be hit as hard and 15% probably wont be far off, as you said. House prices are all about confidence though, and a low oil price over time will reduce confidence in the city.

SunnySideUp

Income to bolster my pension .... not talking about moving as much as building a property portfolio to take me into old age - 80 is the new 40, didn't you know?

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I suspect only the case if the rental income did not match the mortgage/loan on the proprty, for some time mortgage payments have been more than the income generated, not the case anymore.

njkmrs

The trick is not to be greedy .I rent out at reasonable rates that my Tenants can find nowhere else ,hence they are happy ,Im happy .Interest rates have dropped like never seen for a long time so its all relevant .
Long may it last .
House prices will recover and if you dont need to sell then keep and enjoy .

Its your Pensions you need to worry about if you plan to retire in the next 10 yrs or so .!!

davyboy

There will be people banging on about house prices, doing this and doing that, who would not have given pensions much thought.

In fact, I'd not leave my current employer if I was offered another 10k per year, as that is what it would take to privately fund my pension.

SunnySideUp

My Pension is under threat at the moment, due to the Labour Government going back on a Tory promise to keep my Pension benefits whatever happened!!

We are in a new world, with things happening which were not considered 15 years ago - like living so much longer, for example.

Did you know that the higher middle income male in middle age no longer suffers from heart related deaths? This is 100% due to this group being intelligent enough to do something about their lifestyles .... this change started about 20 years ago - they started eating correctly, going to the Gym and stopping smoking ... the resulting health benefits have been marked (but result in the Pension Funds being unable to pay them in retirement!)

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Its not all doom and gloom...

There was a farmhouse i wanted to buy recently,it was for sale at £279k. It has been for sale for well over a year at this price and has had viewings but not sold..
I offered £220k.. But was turned down,but this was the roof on my budget.

3 weeks later the farmhouse went to auction.. So i went with the intention of trying to buy it..

It went for £250k.. Apperently that would have owned it anyway..

Also in my village there had been a 3 bed detatched house for sale for £475k..It has been at this price for over 2 years and the owners wouldnt drop a penny. Feeling in the village was it was too expensive and they would have to lower the price significantly around summer 08..

Consequently it went off the market for a month and moved to another agent with an asking price of £525k..

3 weeks later it sold for £500k and the new owners are now in..

There are still some places/properties that are bucking the trend.

njkmrs

All our pensions are under threat ,unless your working for the Government .In which case you are in a very lucky position as your pretty much guaranteed,a great pension and early retirement .
The rest of us will have to fund this at the expense of our pensions !!!And working until late in life .

Now this I really dont agree with .One rule for us and one for them .
Its a Feckin disgrace to be honest .I wont even go into the amount of time they have off sick !!T055ers .

NXG

That's because public sector wages are comparatively crap compared to equivalent private sector positions. You get paid less annually to get a better and earlier pension.

zip106

Blimey, listen to you lot

In less than 3 years time we won't be here anyway, so don't worry about your house price and just enjoy yourselves.

Doomsday in 2012?: Viewzone

*wibble wibble*

SunnySideUp

Indeed, Civil Servants do generally get crap wages ... they also do not get Bonuses, Company Cars, BUPA and other Private Company benefits ... which is conveniently forgotten by those in the Private Sector when the swings change into roundabouts!!

I am NOT a Civil Servant, BTW! - just putting the table straight!

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

I work in the public sector and am due to retire in 2041 I fully expect the government to have abolished our final salary pensions by that time due to them simply not being affordable. That would currently be illegal, but a way will be found.

FWIW I've not had a sick day for over 2 years and have never had more than 2 days per year. Well, apart from when I got my wisdom teeth out in hospital that is. Tarring and brushes comes to mind!

There are always those that abuse the sick pay system and it infuriates us just as much as you. Who do you think carries their workload most of the time?

njkmrs

But lets face it many of them Leech for their entire lives in nonsense jobs contributing very little and taking twice as much sick as the Private Sector !!

One quarter of our Council /Poll tax goes towards paying these pensions for very little return from the people getting them .

I believe in getting out, in relation to what you put in .Its high time it was stopped .
Apologies I have dragged this off topic I think .!!

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

yeah this one needs a separate thread, back on topic

njkmrs

Rossy ,apologies for Tarring all with the same brush,I did mean in general ,there will always be Good Eggs like yourself .

The last time I was off sick was over 10 yrs ago when I broke my left Femur in a bike accident at Oulton Park .In hospital for two weeks and back in work after 6 weeks !!!

It just riles me paying for a lot of malingerers .

SunnySideUp

Back on topic:-

More than six in 10 economists believe 2009 will be a year in which to avoid buying property, with prices falling into 2010.

A report in the FT states:-

FT.com / UK / Economy & Trade - Housing market unlikely to pick up this year

FlightMan

I can't find the article now, but I was reading before Christmas how the balance between private and public sector pay has changed.

Public is the area to be in now.

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

We moved in April 2008 and the house had been valued and marketed at £415k during 2007. The then owners found their 'new' house and aggressively pushed their 'old' house. We purchased it for £340k (with a £40k deposit) and a monthly mortgage of £1400. Since then it's dropped in price by who know what, but a neighbour has recently put theirs on the market for less than £300k . They also have an extra bedroom, but no study or en-suite and only a single rather than double garage, so probably all in all, a similar proposition. Am I worried about the possibility of being in negative equity - not a bit as we have to live somewhere and we don't intend to move for a good few years. Oh, and my mortgage repayments are currently less than £700 a month

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Think its all a bit hard to call - we bought our house just over 2 years ago, when prices were probably at their peak nationwide, but a house the same as ours ( only difference is a small added conservatory ) around the corner just sold for £35K more than we paid, so looking at the situation within our village, then prices have risen by about 20%.

But as I have no intention of selling, and unless something disastrous happens financially, then its really all academic.

I agree that BTL owners may get into trouble if their properties are empty and they cant afford the mortgage, but they bought as an investment, which is a risk, and if they lose money then thats part of the risk that they should have considered before buying.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Surely that is just a sign of how estate agents purely over value properties??? Years ago the bank would just give you a mortgate on a property but now they value it themselves so thats why it will be so low?? Also its the flats/apartments especially new ones that are taking the biggest loss and if you purchase an older house you don't have to pay a huge deposit. I'm sure I saw on one of the banks websites that it was 10% for older properties and 20% for new builds.

silent running

GOOD. Bring them back down to what I paid in 1997 for a 3 bed terrace in Essex - 50 grand. Or as had been the rule of thumb for decades upon decades until then - 2.5 times my wife and I's joint income. Lend people more money than that, and they WILL spend it to get on their 'investment ladder', as has been shown very clearly now. People should be happy to have a roof over their head.

silent running

As others have already mentioned, public sector workers - like me and many others - have had more than our fair share of the lean years. Now it's the private sector's turn. You want bonuses, job flexibility, a company car, tax breaks, overtime, better take home pay, then that's fine. You made your choice, and public sector workers made theirs. If you now want a public sector job so bad, why don't you go and get one if you think it would suit you? I made my choice that I wanted to do something useful with my life and forego the high salaries for something my family and I could just about get by on, knowing that eventually my pension will be OK and that my job is relatively immune to the effects of the economy because I do a job that has been needed throughout human history and always will be. It was a hard decision to follow that path after uni when all my mates were going straight into very high earning telecomms jobs in the mid 90s, and I was earning £700 a month. But there you go, that's life eh?

davyboy

^
I'd suggest rather than make the choice, you kind of ended up there, and now justify it to yourself.

No one thinks about pensions and their family when they just leave uni and start working.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I don't think prices are going to fall much further. Sooner or later landlords are going to be back in the market. Rents are now higher than mortgages + other costs. So it is possible to buy places and them not cost you anything.

Its all a question of finance and timing. I'm thinking that within the next 12 months you will start to see landlords moving back into the market, especially the ones that in it for the long term.

davegtt

There is still a place for the market, supply and demand. As soon as the banks start lending again without huge deposits places will be snapped up.

You are all shouting about nothing.

Oh, and we all dont live in the South where these "20%" drops have happened