House Prices Now At 2004 Levels
21 February 2011, 01:07 PM
#2222
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RightMove says today that sellers are asking 3% MORE for their homes than last month!! 
Who the hell is telling these people that the asking prices are realistic? Only 43% of houses for sale last year sold.
It's up to the Estate Agents to get tough with vendors - at some point they must be getting sick of marketing overpriced property after overpriced property, which they know will not sell?
Who the hell is telling these people that the asking prices are realistic? Only 43% of houses for sale last year sold.
It's up to the Estate Agents to get tough with vendors - at some point they must be getting sick of marketing overpriced property after overpriced property, which they know will not sell?
21 February 2011, 01:24 PM
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If interest rates were high, then yes, more people would have to lower prices in order to sell.
Not a chance at the moment. With rates so low, it is easy to tighten your belt a bit and still pay your mortgage. So we're are at a stand-off.
Only when rates rise will we see any impact on prices. But the government will not raise interest rates at the moment.
Not a chance at the moment. With rates so low, it is easy to tighten your belt a bit and still pay your mortgage. So we're are at a stand-off.
Only when rates rise will we see any impact on prices. But the government will not raise interest rates at the moment.
21 February 2011, 04:43 PM
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If interest rates were high, then yes, more people would have to lower prices in order to sell.
Not a chance at the moment. With rates so low, it is easy to tighten your belt a bit and still pay your mortgage. So we're are at a stand-off.
Only when rates rise will we see any impact on prices. But the government will not raise interest rates at the moment.
Not a chance at the moment. With rates so low, it is easy to tighten your belt a bit and still pay your mortgage. So we're are at a stand-off.
Only when rates rise will we see any impact on prices. But the government will not raise interest rates at the moment.
Nationwide 4.39% to 4.99%
HSBC
ING.
I don't recall the bank rate being raised do you? The markets are pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year.
The clock is ticking folks.
21 February 2011, 04:53 PM
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What people fail to understand is that the Govt don't set your mortgage rate. In the last week fixed rates have gone up for
Nationwide 4.39% to 4.99%
HSBC
ING.
I don't recall the bank rate being raised do you? The markets are pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year.
The clock is ticking folks.
Nationwide 4.39% to 4.99%
HSBC
ING.
I don't recall the bank rate being raised do you? The markets are pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year.
The clock is ticking folks.
21 February 2011, 05:01 PM
#2226
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There was an article in the paper this weekend about a guy paying 10% interest on a variable mortgage. His mortgage is with a small mortgage provider and their variable rate is set at 10% right now. It said in other countries mortgage providers like this have been charging 20% or even 30%.
Estate agents are still pricing the houses up to get the business. They can't price the house realistically because then the seller would go with another EA who says he can get 10 grand more. They generally wait a few weeks and then talk the seller in to dropping the price.
Estate agents are still pricing the houses up to get the business. They can't price the house realistically because then the seller would go with another EA who says he can get 10 grand more. They generally wait a few weeks and then talk the seller in to dropping the price.
21 February 2011, 05:32 PM
#2227
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But the sellers aren't dropping the prices at all ..... whatever the Agents say down the line.
Which is where the Estate Agents should be leading the way and only accepting realisticly priced properties - they would sell and the Agent would get their commission - that has to be better than having the same house sat in the window covered in dust for years?
It is true that there is a stand-off between buyers and sellers ..... which is why everything is stagnant.
One side needs to blink first .... in 2009 it was the buyers who blinked and started buying - I don't think that will be the case this time.
Which is where the Estate Agents should be leading the way and only accepting realisticly priced properties - they would sell and the Agent would get their commission - that has to be better than having the same house sat in the window covered in dust for years?
It is true that there is a stand-off between buyers and sellers ..... which is why everything is stagnant.
One side needs to blink first .... in 2009 it was the buyers who blinked and started buying - I don't think that will be the case this time.
21 February 2011, 05:34 PM
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21 February 2011, 08:46 PM
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21 February 2011, 08:55 PM
#2230
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Excellent Blog here:-
Dear Vendors,
Working on the premise that you are a Vendor who really needs to sell, as opposed to a ‘let’s see what can I get’ tyre-kicker, here is my blunt but well meaning advice.
You have put your property on the market and one of two things has happened.
Nothing.
or
An offer straightaway.
Why is nothing happening?
As there is a lack of good quality stock at the moment, chances are your property is over-priced or there is something wrong with it. Either way, it is over-priced.
An offer straightaway? Great, but I bet if it’s not the asking price you don’t take it. And if it is, I bet you’re screaming that the Estate Agent under-valued it.
Firstly for the lucky Vendors with a quick offer. You may think this is the beginning of a huge influx of ever increasing offers and therefore think you will sit back and await more pennies from heaven. Well don’t.
From long experience the very first offers you get will almost always be the highest and the best. Buyers, when they are first to view on a good property will very often make excellent offers to stave off other bidders. Fresh to the market properties are sexy.
If that property has been hanging around they don’t feel the need to and worry why no one else has bought it. The longer it is on the market, the worse buyers concerns about it being a turkey will get and so will the offers.
Don’t mess around with that offer, squeeze as much as you can quickly but remember it will probably be the best you get.
So your house has been sitting around for 6 weeks now, dribs and drabs of buyers no offers until one day up pops what you call a ‘derisory’ offer.
Ask yourself how derisory it really is. Is it only derisory in relation to the over-inflated asking price?
If it really is bad then rent the place out for three years. If you can’t do that then you are going to have to consider it, because the fact is, unless your house is in prime London or worthy of RIBA house of the year, your chances of getting more will only get worse as the weeks go by.
I am being so blunt on the basis that the market is surprisingly buoyant at the moment for Vendors but only due to lack of supply and low interest rates.
It won’t last.
This lack of supply is very likely to change as the year progresses due to un-employment, rising interest rates and general economic woes. When more properties come onto the market and the demand doesn’t rise, the chances of you getting the price you are offered today will decrease faster than a spider down a plughole.
If my house was going on the market tomorrow and I needed to sell this year, I would be pricing it very realistically, perhaps even under-pricing to create interest. (buyers love what they perceive as an under-priced property).
If I had no offers after 3 weeks full marketing with a good Agent I would be dropping the price and I would be looking lovingly at any offer from a buyer with cash or a low LTV mortgage.
To heck with price indices and ‘what it’s worth’. A property’s ‘value’ is only ever what someone is willing to pay for it. And shortly, there will be fewer people who want to pay anything and more for them to choose from.
So don’t puff out your chest and allow your ego to run negotiations.
Grasp the nettle and take that decent or even half decent offer, with indecent haste.
Source:- http://www.buyingagent.me/Site/Blog/...dy_offer..html
Dear Vendors,
Working on the premise that you are a Vendor who really needs to sell, as opposed to a ‘let’s see what can I get’ tyre-kicker, here is my blunt but well meaning advice.
You have put your property on the market and one of two things has happened.
Nothing.
or
An offer straightaway.
Why is nothing happening?
As there is a lack of good quality stock at the moment, chances are your property is over-priced or there is something wrong with it. Either way, it is over-priced.
An offer straightaway? Great, but I bet if it’s not the asking price you don’t take it. And if it is, I bet you’re screaming that the Estate Agent under-valued it.
Firstly for the lucky Vendors with a quick offer. You may think this is the beginning of a huge influx of ever increasing offers and therefore think you will sit back and await more pennies from heaven. Well don’t.
From long experience the very first offers you get will almost always be the highest and the best. Buyers, when they are first to view on a good property will very often make excellent offers to stave off other bidders. Fresh to the market properties are sexy.
If that property has been hanging around they don’t feel the need to and worry why no one else has bought it. The longer it is on the market, the worse buyers concerns about it being a turkey will get and so will the offers.
Don’t mess around with that offer, squeeze as much as you can quickly but remember it will probably be the best you get.
So your house has been sitting around for 6 weeks now, dribs and drabs of buyers no offers until one day up pops what you call a ‘derisory’ offer.
Ask yourself how derisory it really is. Is it only derisory in relation to the over-inflated asking price?
If it really is bad then rent the place out for three years. If you can’t do that then you are going to have to consider it, because the fact is, unless your house is in prime London or worthy of RIBA house of the year, your chances of getting more will only get worse as the weeks go by.
I am being so blunt on the basis that the market is surprisingly buoyant at the moment for Vendors but only due to lack of supply and low interest rates.
It won’t last.
This lack of supply is very likely to change as the year progresses due to un-employment, rising interest rates and general economic woes. When more properties come onto the market and the demand doesn’t rise, the chances of you getting the price you are offered today will decrease faster than a spider down a plughole.
If my house was going on the market tomorrow and I needed to sell this year, I would be pricing it very realistically, perhaps even under-pricing to create interest. (buyers love what they perceive as an under-priced property).
If I had no offers after 3 weeks full marketing with a good Agent I would be dropping the price and I would be looking lovingly at any offer from a buyer with cash or a low LTV mortgage.
To heck with price indices and ‘what it’s worth’. A property’s ‘value’ is only ever what someone is willing to pay for it. And shortly, there will be fewer people who want to pay anything and more for them to choose from.
So don’t puff out your chest and allow your ego to run negotiations.
Grasp the nettle and take that decent or even half decent offer, with indecent haste.
Source:- http://www.buyingagent.me/Site/Blog/...dy_offer..html
Last edited by pslewis; 21 February 2011 at 08:58 PM.
23 February 2011, 07:51 PM
#2231
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23 February 2011, 08:10 PM
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23 February 2011, 08:33 PM
#2234
23 February 2011, 08:45 PM
#2236
I'm pissed off, the market is doing better than most actually think and prices for labour and materials have been driven down which is actually spreading right across the board for all jobs in all areas. People are now using the recession as a weapon and pushing wages and prices to a minimum! I never thought this would last this long but hey ho! Change will come next year, wages may not alter but it will be the start and a few years later you will actually be able to speak up at work about something you disagree with without the worry of being sacked and having no job for years! Times change and it will be fun when it does
23 February 2011, 08:56 PM
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May be I have been lucky. 2 pay rises in 3 years (1 year was a freeze) and have recieved a profit share bonus every one of those years along with an xmas bonus. May be the company I work for was just better prepared for the downturn than others. 
My brother is a painter and decorator and is on my money now (£130 a day) than he has ever been on before. And he has only had 1 day off through lack of work in the last12 months. Most of his work is new builds too.
Go figure.
My brother is a painter and decorator and is on my money now (£130 a day) than he has ever been on before. And he has only had 1 day off through lack of work in the last12 months. Most of his work is new builds too.
Go figure.
Last edited by Gear Head; 23 February 2011 at 08:58 PM.
23 February 2011, 09:02 PM
#2239
I have loads of work just the money is crap! I still make a good wage as compared to what others may say but for how much I have dropped and how much harder I have to work for it, I think most would cry if they suffered the yearly loss I have 
I would rather spend it on holidays now
23 February 2011, 10:58 PM
#2243
What people fail to understand is that the Govt don't set your mortgage rate. In the last week fixed rates have gone up for
Nationwide 4.39% to 4.99%
HSBC
ING.
I don't recall the bank rate being raised do you? The markets are pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year.
The clock is ticking folks.
Nationwide 4.39% to 4.99%
HSBC
ING.
I don't recall the bank rate being raised do you? The markets are pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year.
The clock is ticking folks.
How are the markets pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year?
Last time I looked the 1 year libor was 78 and an 8th, that looks like they expect one rise of 25 points, or do you have some kind of special calculator?
The reason mortgage rates are high is because banks cannot borrow money in the long term at a low rate, simple.
24 February 2011, 03:02 PM
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Can I just ask about the above post, I read it with some interest.
How are the markets pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year?
Last time I looked the 1 year libor was 78 and an 8th, that looks like they expect one rise of 25 points, or do you have some kind of special calculator?
The reason mortgage rates are high is because banks cannot borrow money in the long term at a low rate, simple.
How are the markets pricing in at least 3 rate rises this year?
Last time I looked the 1 year libor was 78 and an 8th, that looks like they expect one rise of 25 points, or do you have some kind of special calculator?
The reason mortgage rates are high is because banks cannot borrow money in the long term at a low rate, simple.
So as Pete says We're all doomed.
However I'm not as I didn't overborrow. I can remember coming home to 12% interest rates.
24 February 2011, 04:15 PM
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What you can't wait for is everyone else to suffer with you sitting there saying ' I told you so, I am cleverer than you!'.
Well have fun with that because it ain't going to happen!
If I remember correctly, when the ****e last hit the fan with stupidly high interest rates, it was the government that were setting the interest rates, not the BOE who are in control of it now.
Is that correct? And why do you think macro economic control was taken away from the government?
Because they weren't economists. Just ***** who thought they knew best.
Last edited by Gear Head; 24 February 2011 at 04:19 PM.
24 February 2011, 04:35 PM
#2247
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So one day IR will go up and you'll say I told you so, but it will be a false victory because in the 15 years its taken for your prophecy to come true people have banked £££££££££ from cheap money and property.
24 February 2011, 04:53 PM
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But herein lies your problem Flightman. Because you remember 12% you have been averse to leverage and using property for capital growth. As a result you have missed out on nearly 15 years of potential bumper profits, the sort of money mere mortals can never earn from their jobs.
So one day IR will go up and you'll say I told you so, but it will be a false victory because in the 15 years its taken for your prophecy to come true people have banked £££££££££ from cheap money and property.
So one day IR will go up and you'll say I told you so, but it will be a false victory because in the 15 years its taken for your prophecy to come true people have banked £££££££££ from cheap money and property.
24 February 2011, 04:57 PM
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But herein lies your problem Flightman. Because you remember 12% you have been averse to leverage and using property for capital growth. As a result you have missed out on nearly 15 years of potential bumper profits, the sort of money mere mortals can never earn from their jobs.
So one day IR will go up and you'll say I told you so, but it will be a false victory because in the 15 years its taken for your prophecy to come true people have banked £££££££££ from cheap money and property.
So one day IR will go up and you'll say I told you so, but it will be a false victory because in the 15 years its taken for your prophecy to come true people have banked £££££££££ from cheap money and property.
24 February 2011, 05:14 PM
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Indeed it is a point well made.
However it assumes the only way to make money is through property. Not so. I'm very happy in that regard. And will still be when house prices, and the economy tank. Because that's where we're heading folks.
Carry on.
However it assumes the only way to make money is through property. Not so. I'm very happy in that regard. And will still be when house prices, and the economy tank. Because that's where we're heading folks.
Carry on.